Irreplaceable
by Makkura Arashi
Summary: Naruto's dad and Sasuke's former lover, Arashi has left a Will, declaring that unless Sasuke and Naruto live in the same house and develop a relationship, all his property goes to Orochimaru. Can they pull it off? NaruSasuNaru, mentions of SasuArashi YAOI
1. Mistakes

**Disclaimer: **Kinky bondage would be what Sasuke would have in mind for Naruto if I owned this.

**Summary: **He wanted the son so bad, he settled for the father. But now Arashi's dead and he and Naruto finally meet…Can they forgive each other? How will they deal with the mutual grief? SasuNaruSasu and mentions of SasuArashi…Yaoi

**A/N: **Thought this idea seemed different. Tell me if you liked it!! Tahnks Nel For all your help!!

Chapter 1:

There was aloud commotion as every person who stood at the doorway of the hotel tried to get to the bride and groom, to wish them well. The happy couple ran down the short flight of stairs that led to the drive way…they had just finished their reception and were heading off to the airport for their honeymoon. The groom, a handsome blond and blue eyed man, stopped a minute to throw his arms around the tall raven haired man who stood at the foot of the stairs, before ushering his blushing bride into the car. Just before it left, the man threw a charming smile at the crowd.

"Bye Naruto!" "Good luck Hinata…" "Have fun you guys…"

The car disappeared into the horizon and the crowd began to disperse at once. The raven haired man stood stock still, rooted to the same spot, his eyes riveted in the direction that the car had driven off in. he looked like a statue, dark eyes blank, posture rigid. He was the best man…the groom's best buddy. They'd been friends ever since fourth grade…they'd done everything together…but now, Naruto had just left. The raven sighed, it wasn't everyday you said goodbye to the love of your life, while he went off on his honeymoon.

Yes…he was in love with Naruto…and he'd let him go. He wondered if things would have been different, if only he could have told the blond…if he'd had the courage to confess. But then, now wasn't the time to be worrying about that. Here was no 'if'….he hadn't and Naruto had married Hinata. All he had to look forward to now, was his assignment for when college started…in three days time.

"Sasuke-kun…"

The man tore his eyes away from the road and turned to look into a pair of deep blue eyes. _Just like Naruto's…_Naruto's father was looking at him in concern. Sasuke sighed inwardly. There was no way he could talk to Arashi about his love for his son…"I'm fine, Arashi-san. I guess I'm just…feeling lonely."

The blond man seemed to relax and smiled a bit. "Well, I know exactly how you're feeling, I guess. I miss him all ready too! He's only nineteen…never thought he'd get married this young…"

"Hn."

"Will you be heading home now?" Arashi knew Sasuke hated his home. Ever since he'd found out about Sasuke's family life when the boy was in fifth grade, he'd let Sasuke stay over all the time. It was almost like they were all family.

Sasuke shook his head; his parents had never let him move out…he wasn't allowed his own money for the next two years as well. He wondered if he should get home and then realised that his parent's wouldn't care, as long as he did nothing to sully the family name. "I don't think so, Arashi-san. I think I'll roam about for a while…hate going back to that place."

"You know, just because Naruto's left doesn't mean you can't stay over. Take Naruto's room…after you're like family too. Treat the house like your own. You can stay even when I'm not there…" Arashi patted him on the back. "Life isn't all that bad you know?"

Sasuke nodded grateful. "Thank you. I'd like that." Naruto's dad had always been like this. Kind to a fault. Sasuke adored the man, he'd been like an older brother…not father, and Naruto's dad had been pretty young only nineteen years older than himself and Naruto…a college romance.

They walked to Arashi's Porsche Carrera 911, now the only car in the parking space they'd reserved for the guests. They drove in silence; Sasuke staring out the window and Arashi give him one or two worried glances. They got to the penthouse, which used to be Naruto's home.

Arashi shot him another worried look. And then Sasuke almost jumped out of his skin when arms came around him in a hug. "Sasuke, it's ok. Don't brood too much, kiddo. Naruto will be back soon…he's only gone to Mist for a few weeks and then he'll be in the same city even if he'll live farther away than before." The man patted his back, before disappearing in the direction of his own room.

Sasuke stood stock still for a moment before a minute smile graced his face. He looked around the living room once, it was still the same…it was almost like his own home. Loads of pictures with him, Arashi and Naruto lined the walls. There were many, like he was part of their family or something. If only that could have been true…if only he hadn't fallen in love with Naruto… if only he'd like him like a brother.

Sasuke shook his head. He was off again with the if only's…he really needed to stop and get some sleep. He walked in the opposite direction from Arashi's room, to Naruto's room. He entered and flicked on the lights, going to the closet and pulling out the pair of pajamas Naruto always lent him. They were mostly his pajamas now. After he was done, he crept onto his side of the bed.

It felt weird, not having Naruto noisily clattering around as he got ready to sleep. Sasuke missed the bright flashes of orange and the sounds of Naruto tripping and falling flat on his face. A lump arose in his throat…it was suspiciously like those compressed sobs…Sasuke quickly cleared his throat. He didn't cry…he might have been yanked into the Uzumaki family, but he was still an Uchiha and Uchiha's had big hang ups about crying or showing too much emotion.

He slept for about an hour or so, but the short dreams he had were plagued with thoughts of his friend; the pain in his dreams transferred into reality the moment he woke up…it felt so physical, like he was being ripped apart over and over again. The unwanted lump arose again and again, but Sasuke suppressed it stubbornly.

Another hour of pure torture went by…Sasuke thought he was going to go mad. For the first time in his entire life he was feeling a little hysterical…he'd never hurt this much before! He suddenly jumped out of bed and ran into the living room…looking around he started running towards the only thin that could bring him some comfort. Everything seemed clear; the clarity was the kind that came when you made a quick decision without thinking. He burst through the door, panting, eyes wide and face pale.

Arashi was sitting at his desk, a pair of wire rimmed glasses perched on his nose. He seemed to have been absorbed in the book, until Sasuke'd burst through scaring him, his blue eyes had that shocked but still-not-all-there-look. The moment he saw Sasuke's dishevelled, almost crazed appearance, his face morphed into worry. "Sasuke?" Concern laced the worry. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

"I…" Sasuke padded towards him softly, each vivid detail of the room imprinting itself in his head. His eyes were full of raw emotion, though his voice didn't betray any. "I don't feel too good…"

"Oh Sasuke…is it because Naruto left? Are you feeling lonely?" Arashi doubted that was the reason though. He'd never seen Sasuke like this. The boy was an Uchiha for crying out loud…this state Sasuke was in would have been considered blasphemy to the Uchiha ancestors or something. The boy was shaking…

Sasuke knelt down and hugged the older man, burying his face in his chest. He was once more holding back tears. Arashi stared down at him as he patted the boy's head a bit awkwardly…Sasuke never hugged like this…the stoic boy was always well…stoic!

"Sasuke, I don't understand what's wrong, but I'm sure things will work out. Come on! It can't be that bad can it?" _of course it can, but I have to say something to him…poor Sasuke…_

Sasuke didn't say anything but looked up into those blue eyes…the same ones that adorned Naruto's tanned face…the same blond locks that framed Naruto's face…he only had to imagine those whisker scars of Naruto and it would be the same person. And somewhere in the haziness of his brain, the thought made perfect sense…he could believe that Arashi was Naruto…an older version, but Naruto nonetheless. It was easy to believe, Arashi was an inch taller than Naruto, but he still looked young…he didn't have any wrinkles and his muscles were still as taut as they were nineteen years back when he was their age.

Arashi barely had time to gasp before a pair of lips closed over his. He fought Sasuke, struggling to get away, until he slipped from his chair…only to be pinned down by the dark haired boy's strong arms. A tongue caressed his lips to slide into his mouth, twining with his own. Sasuke was a very good kisser when he wanted to be and this was one of those times. At some point Arashi realised he'd started to kiss back…the boy's fingers had found their way into his hair, clenching and unclenching softly in it. Those lips continued to plunder his mouth.

Finally Arashi managed to push him away, preferring the option of breathing for a while. They stared at each other, Sasuke suddenly feeling a little scared, and he wondered how Arashi would react.

As the fear gripped him, he caught a hold of Arashi's shirt. "Please…" he was an Uchiha he couldn't bring himself to say more…he kept contact with those blue eyes. He repeated another "please" the internal panic he was going through seeping into his eyes.

Serious blue eyes looked at him. "Why, Sasuke?"

The raven haired boy refused to answer, repeating the same word twice more, before lapsing back into silence. Just when Arashi thought Sasuke was calming down, the hands in his shirt yanked him forward for another kiss. His time Sasuke pinned him onto the ground, leaving no room for a struggle…they didn't break for breath at all, Sasuke putting his all into the kiss. The dark haired boy let himself drop onto Arashi and lay flush against the man…he ground down hard, eliciting a moan from Arashi.

Arashi couldn't help but buck up against the boy, his shirt was parted and his neck was peppered with kisses. They melted into the motion, kissing and grinding until Sasuke who had his eyes closed, suddenly pulled away and stumbled backwards.

He stared at the man his dark eyes going wide. "Arashi-san! I'm sorry…I'm really sorry…"

It was taking Arashi sometime to catch his breath and get his mind back together. He felt pity for the boy as he looked into Sasuke's stricken face. But Sasuke's eyes told a different story…the surge of lust was merely shrouded by fear, the tent in his pajamas only proved that. Arashi pondered on what to do…he settled for being realistic.

"Sasuke, do you really want this?"

_No. I want your son who resembles you so much!_ But what came from Sasuke's mouth was "Yes I do…"

Arashi looked taken aback. It was clearly not something he was expecting. "Why?"

_Don't lie to him! He's one of the only people who's tried to understand you…don't lie to him!_ Though Sasuke's mind screamed for him not to lie, he did. It was like someone else was talking. _Maybe if I pretend he's Naruto…maybe he'll love me and I could be happy with only that? _He focused on that one thought.

"I like you…a lot! I want you, Arashi-san…"

He waited while Arashi contemplated his answer. He felt bad for the confusion the man was going through, but he wanted this illusion too bad. The blond man's face was a mask, betraying none of his thoughts.

Then Arashi stood up and pulled him up as well. He took Sasuke hand and swung him onto the bed. "How do you want to do this?" It had been years since Arashi had slept with someone….he hadn't liked anyone since his wife had died.

"I want to top, Arashi-san…"

Arashi's face tightened but he nodded before kissing the boy. The boy might be a good kisser but Arashi could tell he was still a virgin. "Then take what you want, Sasuke!" _**If he really likes me…maybe I should give it a go….a one time thing…oh god…**_

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**5 years later:**

He stared out of the window watching some of his neighbours who were talking by the fence. One or two of the women were crying, the others looked sad. Strange that they felt grief too, though it could never compare to what he felt at the moment.

"Uchiha-san, the funeral director just called. He says that he's done with embalming. He's also gotten the Mahogany coffin like you instructed him to. Is it okay if we fix the wake for tomorrow night?" Kotetsu, Arashi's secretary spoke softly…he had no idea how the Uchiha would react.

The tall man just nodded. Kotetsu sighed. Ever since the accident it had been this way. Sasuke hadn't spoken a word to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. He bowed and back out slowly, leaving the raven to dwell on his own thoughts.

Sasuke was in a way touched at the way those neighbours had come over to support him the moment they'd heard. Unlike the upper class in most neighbourhoods, these people weren't snooty at all. Almost the whole neighbourhood had turned up, it amazed him how much Arashi had been loved. A whimper rose, but he quelled it. He couldn't help wondering if Naruto would come over…they hadn't spoken or seen each other in five years…

The buzzing of his phone brought him back to reality…at least as much of reality as he could handle. He glanced at the caller id, it was Itachi. He decided to ignore it and heaved a sigh. He was hurting a lot.

Was he such an asshole that the moment he fell in love with someone else, they had to be taken away from him? Why did Arashi have to die? Why did the one person who'd _never_ left his side through out his life have to die? His eyes closed, trying to use the darkness to shut out memories of his lover…the new bud of pain welling up was neatly snipped and put away.

The past week had been hell with Arashi in the hospital until early last night when he'd died. Sasuke hadn't eaten anything substantial the whole week, except for the odd sandwich here and there. He felt week and tired from all the sleepless nights. But he didn't want to eat, he just wanted to lie down and die with Arashi. A soft sigh escaped him as he tried not to pass out. Why did he have horrible luck with blue eyed blonds?

He heard the door open, but he felt like it was eons away. Arashi's staff had begun to creep in and out softly as they went about their chores…as well as to keep an eye on him. He leaned against the window, the cool glass against his forehead.

"Uchiha…"

Sasuke spun around too fast at the sound of that voice. His dead black eyes took in the person standing before him with the long-ish blond hair and the blue eyes. His delusion-ed mind had reached breaking point what with all of the stress. He blinked a few times.

"Arashi?" He tried to walk forwards quickly, only to have his eyes roll up and collapse. Strong tan arms caught him and this blond carried him to a bed.

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A/N: Okay, this is just an experimental chapter to see how it goes. Please tell me if you liked it? It was jus an idea I had and I thought it would be different. From this chapter onwards it's just going to be SasuNaruSasu.

Taka


	2. Meeting

Chapter 2:

The pale cream walls of the bedroom, the brown tiles of the floor and the light, float-y white curtains were designed to make this room a calm and quiet place to be in. But it did nothing for the two men in it. Sasuke was still unconscious.

Naruto was anything but calm as he watched the figure on the bed with a frown…his ex-best friend. For the first time he realised that the Sasuke he had known growing up and the Sasuke he had seen on TV or in the newspapers with his father countless number of times was gone. The raven had looked happy then...

Now Sasuke just looked tired and drawn. Naruto swallowed…he didn't want to see those eyes again…Sasuke's eyes had been so dead. Even the stoic-ness had gone out of them. He shook his head…he was supposed to hate Sasuke! He could remember how disgusted he'd felt when he'd come home after his honeymoon to find that Sasuke and his father were lovers. He'd stormed out of the house yelling about he'd hated them both and never come back. He hadn't answered their calls or come out to meet them when they'd visited.

Naruto sighed, he'd always assumed that there would be enough time to make up, but there hadn't been any. He wondered if Hinata would be coming. After their divorce, they'd hardly met even though she kept in touch by sending him letters telling him about their son Miyagi. She was going to be marrying Kiba, her best friend. Naruto had no qualms; he knew Kiba would be a good father to Miyagi. A maid came in carrying a jug of water and a glass.

"Uzumaki-san," she faltered a bit on the name, blinking back tears. "Could you please tell Uchiha-san, that the man from the morgue was here? Your father's lawyer was here too. They said they would return after an hour or so." She bowed and shot a worried glance at Sasuke. "I hope he gets better. The last week has been hell."

Naruto nodded. "Thank you. I'll tend to him when he wakes up."

She gave him a dubious glance and then left. Sometimes it seemed like the house staff hated him. Naruto knew he deserved that. He turned back to Sasuke's bed. Subconsciously he wished that Sasuke would move or make a noise. Something that would make the man look less dead…Naruto didn't know what it would be like to lose Sasuke as well. _But you all ready lost him…you lost them both when you left five years back. _ Naruto bit his lip. He was perfectly justified. Anyone would be angry and mad if they got back from their honey moon to find that their best friend had shacked up with their dad!

He looked down again as Sasuke stirred. His eyelids moved a bit, before the dark eyes opened slowly. Sasuke could smell Arashi on their bed…he buried his nose in he pillow for a few seconds, before turning to face Naruto. He watched the blond for a moment confused before recognition seeped in.

Sasuke felt bone tired, but pulled himself into a sitting position nonetheless. "Naruto-san." His voice was as blank as his eyes. "I'm sorry about this. I haven't been feeling too well."

The blond nodded, his face just as stoic as Sasuke's. "Care to tell me what happened? I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to the hospital. I was in Suna and caught the first plane back."

"I know. He…" Sasuke steeled himself mentally, he could talk about this. He wouldn't break down. "He died in a car crash day before yesterday night. He was on his way to work and some drunk driver skipped the green light and rammed into him…it was at Konoha Bridge…" Sasuke clutched the sheets. "The car skidded off the road and hit the rails before rolling down. It stopped at the bank. His skull had cracked…"

Naruto wished he hadn't asked…Sasuke was going pale again. The older man bit his lip. "He also had multiple fractures, a few broken ribs, internal bleeding and blood loss. The doctor's said it was a slim chance. I was with him when he came around…it was only for five minutes or less, I couldn't tell." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "He told me to tell you he loved you."

Anyone who didn't know the raven man would wonder at the apparent lack of emotions. But Naruto could spot every little sign and he could see how badly Sasuke wanted to cry. Haring about this, Naruto had no idea how to react. He knew it couldn't hurt him as badly as it hurt Sasuke who'd been with his father for the past five years and at his deathbed. It hadn't sunk in that his father was really gone…Naruto knew when it did it would hurt horribly.

Sasuke's phone rang shrilly and Naruto looked at the caller id. It was Sasuke's brother, Itachi. The Uchiha ignored it, staring into space for a moment or two.

"A man from the morgue and Dad's lawyer were here. They will be returning in an hour or so." Naruto wondered why his voice had come out like that…with no warmth or comfort.

"It's a good thing you're here then. Kakashi told me he wanted you, Hinata, Miyagi and me to be present when he read the will. Before you ask, I was not present when Arashi wrote the will so I don't know or want anything." Sasuke stretched a bit.

Naruto frowned, lips turning down. "What is with the defensive attitude? I'm not going to accuse you of trying to steal my father's money!"

Sasuke got of the bed. "I just wanted to be sure that it was clear to you. It's what most people would say about their father's penniless lover." He buttoned up the few buttons which had been undone to give him air. He looked up to see Naruto staring at the red purple love bite that lay just below his neck. Arashi had given it to him the morning of the day he'd died. Sasuke did up the last button nonchalantly.

"Penniless?" Naruto snorted. The Uchiha also came from a billionaire family like Naruto; the thought of Sasuke being penniless was laughable.

Sasuke straightened his clothes and raised an eyebrow. "Yes penniless. My family disowned me the moment they found out about Arashi."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and for once he didn't pay attention to how easily his father's name rolled of Sasuke's lips. "They did? The assholes!"

Sasuke shot him a passive, questioning look. "Why? You did too. It's not such a big deal, Naruto-san. It's not like I meant anything to anyone from the beginning. All that matters is Arashi cared and he made me happy. Now, I have to go. So why don't you contact Hinata and Miyagi, so they can be here in the afternoon?"

Naruto watched as Sasuke walked out. He tried to will the feeling of guilt away. He had absolutely nothing to be sorry for! Sasuke had betrayed him and had been disgusting. It was perfectly all right for him to never want to face Sasuke again. If it was so perfectly fine, then why was he being eaten up by guilt?

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Naruto hung up after his call to Hinata. He sat down on the small red cushioned stool by the phone. He couldn't believe his father had died just yesterday. He stood up to look at the pictures on the walls. Most of the old ones with him, Sasuke and Arashi were still there in the living room…he'd noticed when he came in. but here, in what seemed like Arashi and Sasuke's private den, new pictures had been added.

The first one Naruto saw was off Sasuke laughing as he popped champagne…it had been the time Arashi had made a new merger. Then there was a sweet one of Arashi and Sasuke in what seemed to be a park, sitting side by side deep in conversation. It was softly they were looking at each other that made Naruto stare for a while longer. Another one was funny with Arashi overturning a bowl of ramen on Sasuke, who looked utterly pissed off. There were so many…most of them with his father and Sasuke looking so happy together.

When he came to the last one, Naruto whimpered softly. It was Arashi's favorite picture…where Naruto, Sasuke and Arashi had gone camping they all stood together smiling happily. _Dad…I'm sorry…I miss you…_

Tears slid down his face softly and he felt his legs give way as he sank on to the couch behind him. He made no noise, just crying in private. _I love you too…I'm so sorry…_he had messed things up so badly between his father and himself. He hadn't listened to anything they had to say and he'd insisted that Hinata didn't keep in touch with them, though he knew she was sneaking off to visit them.

The pain was raw…he wished he could have been there in all those happy moments, when Arashi and Sasuke had spent their last few years. He bent down opting to bury his face in his knees as the sobs insisted on coming. And then there was a hand on his shoulder, which went onto to rub his back rather soothingly.

Naruto looked up to see sasuke, his face in its usual emotionless mask. They didn't speak…they didn't know what to say. Sasuke had fallen in love with Arashi…it wasn't that he didn't love Naruto, but those feelings had been put away and hidden very securely when Naruto had walked out of their lives. Arashi had given him everything he could ask for, the love, affection and kindness. Arashi had made him laugh. The least he could do was try to comfort Arashi's son.

Naruto knew he should apologize to Sasuke, but he couldn't do it. He still hated that they had been together, maybe a tiny part of him didn't like feeling left out. Naruto wasn't one to analyse his feelings and usually his emotions ran him. But this time with all the warring emotions, pain with anger at himself and coolness were foremost. He couldn't feel sorry for anything when it came to Sasuke. Sasuke had stolen his dad.

Sasuke watched him for a moment before swallowing lightly and moving to inspect the pictures. He missed those times, when Arashi had unknowingly helped him see _him_ and not Naruto. Sure it started out wrong, but it had straightened out after a while. it brought his mind back to their last conversation…the one that kept Sasuke awake at nights. Arashi's last few words had hurt…he turned and walked out of the room. He couldn't help but wonder how long he and Naruto would have to face each other…how long he'd have to face all this.

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Sasuke was talking to the cook about dinner, for Hinata, Naruto and Miyagi. Since they were coming to visit him, he had to make arrangements for their stay. After all Hinata had now moved to a place two hours drive away from Konoha and Naruto live on the other side of the city. By the time Kakashi got here it would be evening. It was already five pm.

"So just make something easy like macaroni and cheese or something…please don't go through too much trouble, I'm sure the boy will like that, but you'll know better…" Sasuke was saying.

"No, Uchiha-san. Macaroni and cheese sounds fine. It won't be too much trouble. You better eat a healthy portion…you have lost a lot of weight!" The cook poked him with her finger.

At that moment, Hinata and Miyagi walked in followed by Naruto. Hinata gave him a warm smile. "H-hello Sasuke-kun. I'm so g-glad we've finally m-met..." she grasped his hand and shook it gently. "Y-you must b-be devastated… I- I'm sorry about what happened. I'll miss A-Arashi-san too." Unlike Naruto, Hinata had always strived to keep in touch and to bring Naruto around. One of the reasons Naruto divorced her, the other being that they ended up having so many fights.

Sasuke gave her a brief smile. "Thank you Hinata-chan. Congratulations on your engagement to Kiba. I'm sure you'll be very happy."

"I-I'm sure to! Miyagi, meet y-your godfather, Uchiha S-Sasuke." He pushed the little blond four year old forward. The boy smiled and held out his hand, his blue eyes uncertain. He looked like another replica of Naruto except for Hinata's paleness which he'd inherited.

Sasuke smiled at the kid and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Miyagi." The boy seemed to relax all at once.

"So what have you got for me?" the blue eyes stared expectantly at Sasuke.

"Got for you?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you've got to get me a present because you're my godfather! Godfather's shower their god children with gifts…" Miyagi informed him, completely ignoring the shushing noise of his parents.

Naruto watched as Sasuke knelt down to face the kid. "Do they now? I wasn't aware of the fact, so thank you for informing me. If you can wait till tomorrow morning, I'll get you anything you want ok?" Miyagi howled wih glee.

Naruto frowned. Didn't Sasuke say he had no money? How the hell was he going to afford it? "You don't have to, Sasuke!"

"I want to, Naruto-san."

"But you really shouldn't indulge him like that, Sasuke!" Naruto's voice rose a little in volume.

"If S-Sasuke says he w-wants to get M-Miyagi a present, then let him! L-Leave him be Naruto!" Hinata glared at the blond man.

"You don't know…" Naruto began when Sasuke caught his shoulder.

"If you'll excuse us Hinata-chan. I have to talk to Naruto for a minute." He dragged Naruto into another room and frowned. "What is the problem Naruto-san?"

_Naruto-san…_the honorific irked him. Stupid Sasuke! Stupid, annoying Sasuke with his pride and his high and mighty ways! "You don't have any money! Hat's what the problem is!"

"I have a little stashed away. I sold a few stained glass paintings last month…I should have at least five hundred dollars, because I spent the rest on Arashi and my holiday trip." Sasuke coolly informed him.

"F…five hundred dollars! Sasuke!"

"What? Just because I let my self get involved in my art when I was with your father does not me I don't have any money of my own. And I don't want your father's money!" Sasuke glared. "I haven't seen my godson at all! His is the first time we meet, I want to get something! Stay out of it!"

Sasuke went back to Hinata and Miyagi leaving Naruto alone in the room. Everyone was against him…he bit his lip, he deserved it in a way, but sometimes he wished Hinata hadn't developed all that confidence!

Kakashi came in only at seven pm. He smiled at them all, unaware at the tension between them. He ushered them into a room and opened the will.

"Arashi's total fortune consisted of 5000 billion dollars in the Mizugakure Bank and Konoha International Bank, his five companies Uzumaki Corporation worth 50 billion, Rasengan Steel Plant worth 40 billion, Uzumaki-Sannin Publications worth 20 billion, Storm Cloud Printers worth 50 million and Uzuphone Ltd worth 28 billion, his house worth 2 million and his penthouse worth 1 million."

There was a look of dumbfounded amazement on their faces. None of them had known Arashi was that rich! Kakashi just smiled. "this is the division. Storm cloud Printers has been left to his grandson Uzumaki Miyagi when he turns twenty five. He left Uzumaki Corp, Uzumaki-Sannin Publications and his penthouse to his son Uzumaki Naruto. Rasengan Steel Plant, Uzuphone Ltd and the house are left to his lover Uchiha Sasuke. The remaining fortune is to be equally divided among them."

Kakashi paused for a bit of a dramatic effect. Sasuke stood in that pause. "I don't want it."

Kakashi shook his head. "It says here, that the money and the deeds be forcefully given to you in case of un-acceptance. Once their yours, you can sell them all or give them away. And I am not done yet Uchiha-san."

Sasuke stared at him with a death glare before sitting down. "Go on."

"In the case of your deaths, the money goes to charity and the companies to whichever of you is alive…otherwise to Miyagi. He had left a letter for Naruto incase of any unfortunate event like this." Kakashi handed the letter over. "And if you don't mind…I would like to inform you of his last wish after dinner…I am really hungry you see."

Sasuke sighed. "Just tell us!"

"Dinner, first please Uchiha-san. It is 8 pm."

Sasuke gestured for them all to join him at the dinning table. The cook had set it for them. Miyagi scrambled up and yelled a loud 'Itadakimasu' before proceeding to inhale the pasta. Kakashi said nothing just observed the quiet tension in the air until dinner was over. Then he patted his stomach and grinned.

"Now…Uzumaki Arashi's final wish. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke must here forth, live together in any one of his houses. In case they fail to do so, all his companies will directly become the property of his hated rival Sannin Orochimaru."

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A/N:

Taka: I feel quiet brilliant. I pondered over this chapter day and night. And about Arashi knowing…you'll find out how later!

Itachi: pondered? You read Uchihacest and Ita Naru stories all day!! And you say you love me!! (All this said with stoic face of course)

Taka: that's because I love the stories you star in Itachi!! They're awesome and they get my mind off how sexy Naruto and Sasuke are together….sometimes it makes me want to join them!

Itachi: Mine! (Grabs Taka and repeats mine a hundred times over…)

Taka: (shrugs him off and turn to more precious reviewers.) Please review!! I have to work on DWL epilogue, so the next chap will take a while!

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	3. Guilt

**12-ennaiY gave me an idea about the picture scene at the end...i hope you like the way i incorporated it. It was a great idea. **

**KiaraNxiar brought up this discrepancy in the story where i said the whole week had been bad for Sasuke in the first chapter and said Arashi had died the day before yesterday in the last chapter...Well there were some things in that week which weren't good for Sasuke thus making it hell even before Arashi died...so you'll have to wait and see. I'll explain it soon enough. :) Yeah so that was incase anyone else had a doubt. thank you for reviewing. Reviews (equal) inspiration so please review.**

Chapter 3:

The chair fell with a thud as Sasuke almost leaped from it. He stared at Kakashi… "What did you just say?"

Kakashi repeated everything more slowly. "Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke must here forth, live together in any one of his houses. In case they fail to do so, all his companies will directly become the property of his hated rival Sannin Orochimaru. It was his last wish Sasuke…"

The dark haired man seemed to have stopped listening. He was lost in the memory of the last conversation he had, had with Arashi. _No! Arashi, you idiot!_ A hand caught his shoulder and Sasuke found himself looking into Naruto's blue eyes which held a faint tinge of concern through shock. He brushed the hand off fast and turned.

He wanted to leave them all. He grabbed his coat and ran out to the lake down the block. The running helped get rid of anger and sorrow he felt. He knelt at the edge of the lake and punched the ground hard. "Arashi, you idiot! It isn't like that! You left without hearing what I had to say!" he wasn't yelling, but wasn't very quiet either. He'd never known how much Arashi had understood him until the moment he'd died.

_Sasuke had been standing by Arashi in the ICU. They'd let him in as he was the man's lover. He was going haywire with worry. The doctors said they didn't even know if Arashi was going to wake up, they couldn't tell if he was going to recover. A feeble cough, made him turn to see blue eyes…faded blue eyes looking at him. _

"_Sasuke…" Arashi's voice was no more than a rasp. "I'm…dying…" _

_Sasuke opened his mouth to protest only to be stopped by a hand that was tiredly raised. "Let me say this Sasuke…you love Naruto…" the dark haired man's eyes had widened. "But Sasuke, I knew it the moment we slept together on Naruto's wedding night…I should have let you go when Naruto got divorced…but I loved you too much. Well now you can be with him…keep him happy Sasuke…tell him I love him…I love you too…I'm fading too fast…" Arashi's fingers had briefly tightened around the stricken man's fingers before they slackened completely. _

_The doctors came running in at the sound of Sasuke's frantic yelling. They'd looked at him in sorrow. "Uchiha-san…I'm sorry…"_

Sasuke brushed a hand against his eyes. He'd never thought Arashi would have actually taken measures to make sure he and Naruto were together. It hurt that he didn't have the time to say everything he wanted to. He had no way out of this arrangement…any way of just staying away from Naruto and never letting those other feelings surface. His love for Arashi had taken precedence, slowly eating away at what he'd felt for Naruto and now he'd have to go through all that again.

Arashi had made him rich again…But Sasuke had no need for that money _now_…he'd always painted or done art so he could sell it and contribute when he and Arashi went out. He turned on to his back and just lay there, letting the tears seep out from the corners of his eyes…they were falling…he wasn't crying. He couldn't believe it was only a week ago that they had come here for a moonlit picnic with the neighbours Asuma and Kurenai. Lying there alone on the back showed Sasuke just how much he'd lost, he was _alone_. Naruto and he didn't get along anymore; it would take ages to build up their friendship again…

"Sasuke?"

Dark eyes looked at Naruto as he took a seat by Sasuke. He never asked before he did something…Naruto hadn't changed in that aspect. "What?"

"Dunno…."

Sasuke turned and raised an eyebrow. "You don't know why you're here?"

"Teme! Well I just thought I'd see if you were okay…I mean…of course you wouldn't be, but you know it's just a term…" Naruto looked out at the calm waters of the lake…it was nice this lake…with all the grass and just that kiddie fence to keep the children out.

"Hn…I don't want to live with you…"

Naruto snorted. "You really think _I_ want to live with you? I mean yeah we were friends once…" he stopped, not wanting to fight now. "But we have no choice. I'll be damned if I let that snake Orochimaru get his hands on dad's stuff!"

"I hate him. He looks at me funny…" it was funny that Orochimaru was brought up in the same family as Sannin Jiraiya, who Arashi loved working with. The Sannin siblings were children adopted into the wealthy Sannin household from different orphanages. While Jiraiya was fun, Orochimaru was completely loathsome. He hated his brother because he had wanted Tsunade, Jiraiya's wife. He was also creepy.

"Glad we got that cleared. So where do you want to stay?"

"I don't know…I like this lake. We could get another house somewhere close by….or just stay where I'm staying now."

Naruto pondered over that for a while. "You…if we stay where you're staying…" he bit his lip. "Will it hurt you?"

Sasuke felt a jab of pain and turned it into irritation. "Having another blond who looks just like my dead lover in the house I shared with him will be a walk in the park…_of course it hurts_!"

"It was a question and you bloody suggested it!"

Sasuke frowned and looked away. Then he turned to see Naruto's hurt face. "Look…I'm sorry. This is just extremely hard okay? I know it's hard for you too…but this isn't a good time to talk. I'm going back in. I need to get some sleep."

Naruto watched the man walk away and sighed. They were just going to squabble anyway! What was the point in staying together? What had his dad been thinking? He tore open the letter Arashi had written.

_Dear Naruto, _

_My son, it's been a long time since we saw each other. The fact that you are reading this means we won't be seeing each other anymore. I know you were very angry at me for taking your best friend as my lover. I can understand how repugnant it might seem to you. But son, you refused to listen to the circumstances. There were certain circumstances under which this happened and I'd been hoping to sort this out before I left for good. _

_Kakashi will have told you of my wish for you and Sasuke to live together. He's the most important thing in my life, so please care for him like he's the most important thing in yours. I'm sorry all this had to happen Naru. Why it happened, is Sasuke's story to tell…if he ever does. When he does Naru, think of it in his shoes…don't judge him. _

_I had you and you had me all through our lives, but Sasuke didn't have anyone. His family haven't contact him since we made our relationship known. He's had a worse time than you have, so please help him live. I can't help but wonder if he'll smile again, so make him smile, Naruto. You need to win back your friendship…don't throw it away. Your leaving hurt us all, so I won't talk of it more. _

_I love you, son. I wish it hadn't ended without us making up, but I'll always love you and I know you love me. Though what happened with Hinata was a mistake, don't let it deter you…just reach for the stars, Naru. Be happy because that's what life is all about and teach Sasuke that. Ja na_

_Love_

_Dad_

Naruto blinked back tears. Folding the note he put it into his pocket. The moment he brought his treasure box here it would go into that. Tomorrow he would see if he and Sasuke could find a house close to this lake. Day after they'd see if they could make it work.

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Arashi had wanted to be cremated. A huge crowd turned up at the crematorium. People gave Naruto and Sasuke their condolences by the dozen. It was a whole three hours before they could get away. In the last three days, they'd scored the papers in search of a nice house. The lake wasn't very big and they'd found a house on the other side of it. Kakashi who had looked through it said it would do perfectly.

The movers had all ready moved everything to it. All Naruto and Sasuke had to do was arrange things. They hadn't even seen it before. Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked pale and tired.

"Come on, let's go. Anything you've left behind?"

"No." Sasuke's head suddenly went up and his eyes shown with determination. "No I haven't left anything behind." _Arashi…goodbye. I'll take care of your assets, don't worry about it. Ja na…_

He got into the passenger seat and looked out at the smoke billowing out of the chimney high above the building one last time. Then he looked straight ahead. "Let's go, Naruto."

The blond glanced at him, before driving out of the parking lot. It took them another forty five minutes to reach the house. Naruto liked what he saw. It was a nice white house with four acres of land around it. Thankfully there were no walls around it juts a low fence. A path from the garden led straight to the lake. "What do you think?"

"Nice…but I'd like to see the inside."

They walked in through the front door which was flanked by two pretty gardens on either side. The garden on the right (while walking towards the door) had a small iron and glass table with a beach umbrella, to have tea or dinner outside. There was a living room to the right of the door, with large window that stopped a foot above the floor. Their furniture had been arranged perfectly, huge leather couch and two arm chairs, wrought iron furniture, a beautiful red and gold fire dragon oriental rug, a few silk cushions thrown around. The plasma screen TV on a wall with wrought iron shelves to hold up the two speakers, in the middle of the rug was a rectangular wrought iron and glass coffee table, with a newspaper rack below it.

The carpeting was a sandy cream colour that went well with the look. A little way to the left across from the door a bit away from the living room was the dining room. Again I was a wrought ion and glass table with pretty wrought iron and black leather chairs. And to the far left of the door was the huge kitchen. The kitchen counter was a huge slab of black granite and cabinets lined one part of the wall. The cooking range was a nice one with the step stove (two on top and two on the bottom) on either side were shelves for the spoons and other utensils. There were also French windows leading out to the garden and a back door leading to the pool at the backyard. The living room also had a French window facing the pool.

They went upstairs. There was a long corridor and four rooms upstairs. The room at the end of the corridor was the games room, with the billiards and table tennis tables, as well as a few other games. The room before that was the guest bedroom. Sasuke had chosen the room second from the corridor and Naruto got the first, they were more or less opposite anyway.

"The gym is downstairs… and the pool is in the backyard." Naruto stretched. "We could also have horses if you wanted or a pet maybe?"

Sasuke nodded. "So that about staff? The cook said she'll be leaving. She'd told Arashi before, so I'm going to have to let her go. Kotetsu can act as secretary to both of us since we'll anyway have one at the companies. All we need is maybe two maids, a gardener or maybe two and a day time housekeeper? We can take turns cooking our meals…we don't really need a cook. If you don't mind I'd like all the staff to leave by night."

Naruto nodded. "No problem. Now what about getting some take out?"

"Pizza…"

Naruto nodded. He frowned when Sasuke just sat down and watched TV. Dusk was falling outside. Naruto ordered a double cheese pizza with some pepperoni…it was funny how he remembered Sasuke's taste. Sasuke loved vegetables but not on his pizza. Then he sat down on the far end of the couch next to Sasuke, who'd turned on some art channel and was intently watching it. The air of gloom refused to disappear but hung there like a boring guest who no one could get rid of.

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Kakashi sighed as he sat with his friends. Iruka, Raidou, Anko, Gai, Arashi's secretary Kotetsu, his boyfriend Izumo who also worked in the Uzumaki household, Asuma and Kurenai Arashi's neighbours and friends. Arashi, Naruto and Sasuke had never treated the staff like staff outside of working hours so they were all a big group of friends. Though Arashi had been the oldest of the lot at forty three and Sasuke had been the youngest at twenty four.

"So how's it going?" Kurenai asked. "It's a weird decision for Arashi to make."

"Well for the past four days they've been avoiding each other. Sasuke doesn't eat…well he only eats because Naruto nags him about it night and day. They had a very huge fight yesterday during lunch. Sasuke said a few hurtful things so their back to avoiding each other." Kotetsu sighed.

"Well and they have finally decided on getting someone to manage the house…it's a guy…" Izumo grinned. "Well, that's a relief since we've been spending hours shuttling between the two of them for orders but they keep sending us to the other." His grin dropped. "I wonder what it would take for them to get back to being friends."

Kakashi nodded. "There's this whole secret behind having them live together…I think Arashi wanted to get them together…"

"Kakashi!" Anko screwed up her face. "Sasuke was Naruto's father's lover! Why would Arashi want his son to become his lover's lover?? I mean it's like falling for your step mother!"

"No…" Kotetsu answered even before Kakashi could. "It isn't that simple. You see the whole reason Sasuke became Arashi's lover was because he was in love with Naruto. I was there…I mean Sasuke loved Naruto for years. But the blond had no idea and he went off and got married. Arashi invited Sasuke to spend the night, but somehow they ended up sleeping together…then Naruto came back and refused to listen because he was so angry. Maybe Arashi knew and he sees his as a way to get them together and make it work…after all if it does happen we shouldn't be judging them…"

"You mean to say Sasuke just used Arashi because he looked like Naruto?" Asuma asked with a frown and a cold tone of voice. "I wouldn't have thought he'd stoop to such a level."

"No…it started out like that, but then I fell in love with him…" came a cold voice. Everyone froze, before turning to look at the person standing behind them. It was Sasuke wearing a black jacket with what looked like crushed take out bags.

"Sasuke! We didn't see you here…" Kurenai began a little brightly.

"I'm aware of that. I was passing by and I thought I'd say hello…but obviously it wasn't needed." He turned around his head held high. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't discuss this…it's our business not yours." He walked out, his bangs hiding his face. He'd been there since Kakashi came up with the theory and it hurt to see his 'friends' discussing this like Saturday night gossip.

Kakashi slammed his fist against the table. "Shit!"

Asuma swallowed. "He's right…"

"Knowing Sasuke, we just made an enemy…I mean he won't throw me out or anything, but I just made my job more awkward…" Kotetsu looked at the ground.

"Maybe this was good in a way…" Iruka started earning glares from everyone else. "No…I mean…he'll make other friends now, ones he can hang with younger people his own age. I mean we're all forty years and above…we love him, but he needs to hang with people his own age…"

"Some how I doubt he'll talk to anyone now."

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Sasuke entered the house fast and flung the bags of food onto the table. His friends…his own friends thought that way when they found out the truth. Naruto would hate him…and hate him from the core of his heart. He couldn't take this anymore. Everyone thought he had used Arashi…in the beginning he had, but now…now when it hurt the most everyone just acted like things were okay! He ran up to his room, brushing past a puzzled Naruto in a hurry.

Shutting the door behind him he crumpled against it. Why did everything have to go wrong like this? Why couldn't Arashi have just stayed that day instead of going to work? Even his friends didn't wan him…the frown on Asuma's face had been horrible to see. _Stoop to such a level…_ that's what he'd said. _But I did…I did stoop to that level…_he moved to stand by the bed, moving around helped a bit right now.

Though hurt and self hatred were a part of he motions he faced now, anger was a large part to. They don't know! They don't know what happened…Kotetsu only saw a bit of it…he doesn't know! How dare they sit and talk about it and judge me?

He punched the wall next to his bed hard. That made him feel better, so he just imagined he was hitting every one of them as he continued. He didn't care that his hands was hurting and that the small table next to his bed was shaking, one more hard punch and the vase on the table along with a picture of him and Arashi fell with a resounding crash. Sasuke stopped and looked down. He dropped to his knees and began to pick up the frame.

It was a picture of him and Arashi on one of their morning afters, Arashi had snapped a pic as Sasuke had snuggled up to him looking up at the camera from against his chest. He cut his hand on a jagged piece of glass as he did so. His door burst open to reveal a pajama clad Naruto fork still in hand.

"Sasuke! Are you okay?"

Sasuke didn't answer; he just put the picture back on the table and began to collect the other pieces of glass and ceramic. Naruto ran up to him, careful not step on any of the pieces.

"Sasuke…what happened? Teme, you're hand is bleeding…" Naruto pulled the older man up and shoved hi onto the bed. He used a near by dustbin to dump the pieces Sasuke had collected. "Look we'll bring up the dustpan and brush and get this cleaned up. Let me see your hand…"

His blue eyes widened though as he saw the bruised knuckles on each hand. "What the fuck, teme…have you been punching the walls or something? It would account for the thudding noise I heard. Wait here…"

He got some bandages and some soothing cream. He cleaned the cut and then spread the bruises with the cream before bandaging Sasuke. Then he looked at Sasuke who was refusing to look at him. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it; go back to your dinner."

"Like hell I will…look dad told me to make sure you were okay…and I'm going to be doing exactly that." Naruto cleaned up the mess and swabbed the floor for any other tiny pieces that may have been left behind. Sasuke had gone to the bathroom and emerged in pajamas too.

"You didn't listen to Arashi before so why start now?"

Naruto looked up in disbelief…"What did you say?"

"I said, you didn't listen to Arashi before so why start now?"

"Listen asshole, I am not going to explain everything I do, all right? And if you really want to keep dad's property safe, you'd better start doing something about that shitty attitude of yours. You were also at fault…and now you get some sleep. When we wake up in the morning, I expect that we will be civil to each other and not bring up matters unless we're ready to deal with them…" Naruto stood and walked out of the room.

He had gotten to the door when he heard what Sasuke had just said. "Thank you." Naruto grinned suddenly feeling a little less angry. Maybe they could sort things out?

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A/N: Yeah I'll stop here…internet's not working today so I'll just have to settle for putting this up tomorrow or tonight even. I'm having a bit of trouble with this story because though I have the plot complete in my head, I still need the scenes that link the plot twists and they are so hard to write. And to be honest I have no idea how long this story is going to be…like for DWL I had planned 8 chapters but it came to sixteen…so I guess I'll have to see. On top of that I have this new Naruto story waiting to be written and might actually start on that…it's funny and it's got less angst so I'll have to switch moods each time I write. But I hope you liked this chapter yes they are becoming slightly friendly and yeah I might make it go as slow as It's going cos I can't have them jump into a friendship….Ja ne

Taka

Itachi is handing out peanut butter or choco chip cookies so pick the one of your choice as you leave a review…thanks 


	4. Civility

Chapter 4:

Sasuke was shut up in his room and brooding once more. Naruto hadn't seen him ever since he'd hurt his hand three days back. They'd both had to run around to and from work, trying to sort things out they hadn't even had their meals together! Naruto sighed and sat down…he'd kill for a doughnut and a cappuccino right about now. Maybe Sasuke could accompany him?

He trudged up to the older man's room and knocked hard. A muffled 'who's there?' sounded through the door. Naruto rolled his eyes and pushed the door open…he smiled involuntarily. Sasuke was tangled up in his quilt, with his eyes half open, heavy with sleep. They opened just a little, teeny bit wider and a half-baked Uchiha glare was turned on. Unfortunately, Naruto had long ago become immune to it.

"What the hell do you want?"

Naruto sat down next to the quilt covered lump. "Ne, Sasuke…let's go get a doughnut…"

Obsidian eyes opened wider in incredulity. "A doughnut?!" he glanced at the clock. "Naruto…it's one in the morning! Are you out of your mind? You woke me up for _this_?"

Naruto's face fell slightly. "Um…I only wanted some company…sorry for waking you up…" his voice was a little low. He stood and walked towards the door when he heard Sasuke ask him to stop. He turned to see the Uchiha get out of bed…he was wearing a grey t-shirt with black boxers, his hair mussed and his hand still bandaged. The man pulled on some trousers and then stood running the bandaged hand through his hair, before snatching up a comb and trying to win a losing battle by trying to tame the locks at the back….they still stuck up when he was done.

He turned to Naruto. "Drive or walk?"

"I dunno…it's only two blocks down the road…what do you think?"

"Walk?"

"Yeah…I think that'll do me some good…" he smiled at Sasuke. "If you don't like doughnuts they do good bagels too…"

Sasuke nodded and they headed out. An awkward silence hung between them for one whole block, until either of them attempted conversation. Actually conversation only began when Sasuke stopped at a twenty four hour magazine stall to look at the new issue of Overdrive.

"Arashi used to read these all the time…I've never met anyone who was so into cars! He read these page to page…I remember I even quizzed him on a whole issue once and he got all the questions right!" he sighed and put the magazine back down. He'd never really been interested in cars; he preferred adventure sports and stuff.

"Yeah…we used to go to all the rallies held and stuff, when I was a kid." Naruto sounded nostalgic. "I suppose he took you to them too?"

Sasuke nodded. "Twice…he used to say he wanted to show me off…but after that I stopped going with him, I wasn't too interested in cars…I think he got that at some point and decided it was a waste of time to take me…"

"Yeah, dad was good at things like that…he always knew when to stop…I mean I stopped going when I was fourteen, you remember how we'd joined the football team together? Yeah so I had football practice and didn't want to go…" Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who was lost in thought.

They entered the little café; Naruto ran to the counter and ordered a jam doughnut. He got a cappuccino and then looked at Sasuke who was looking at the food in the counter. "What do you wan to have, teme?"

Sasuke turned to the lady behind the counter. "I'd like an onion bagel with cream cheese please. And maybe a latte?"

They got a small round table with two stools at the window. The silence this time was slightly more bearable. The lady signalled for them to collect their food. Naruto looked at Sasuke's calm face and smiled a little mischievously. He wanted to shock the man into showing some expression.

"So, Sasuke, who was top? My dad or you? Did you share?"

A mouthful of latte sprayed out of Sasuke's mouth. "What?" Was the strangled reply. Sasuke wiped it up with a napkin and stared at Naruto. He sae the gleam and pursed his lips a bit. Two could play at this game. He grinned seductively at the blond.

"I _always_ topped, dobe…you see I was so good, your father didn't want to top me _ever_…" he leaned forward and gazed smokily into Naruto's eyes. "Why…you're curious? I could give you a demo anytime…"

Naruto went red in the face. "Uh…no. I mean…I was just wondering…I…"

Sasuke backed off and smiled a normal smile. "Idiot…that was just payback. Finish up…I need to get back to bed. I'm really tired." Naruto frowned at him before grinning.

"Okay…"

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Kotetsu knocked on Sasuke's door. He was feeling really awkward. He stepped in. "Uchiha-san…Mr. Rivers wants to know if he can meet you to discuss Uzuphone New York…."

"Tell him I'm busy till one. After that I'm at his service and call Rasengan Steel. Tell them I'll be down to check the factory and meet the manager tomorrow morning first thing…" Sasuke turned back to his computer.

Kotetsu made the necessary calls and went back again. "Uchiha-san. Mr. Rivers says he'll be down to meet you at two. And the manager at Rasengan said he'd be waiting."

Sasuke looked up. "Thank you…" he went back to his computer. After a few minutes he realised Kotetsu was staring at him, still standing in the doorway. "What?"

"I…Sasuke…you're hand…I mean what happened?"

"I hurt it."

"Like duh…I mean how?"

Sasuke sighed. "Listen I'm not in a mood to talk about it. Plus I don't think I need the whole world knowing how I hurt it. Again it's not your business…now if you please, could I get on with this design? It's a company logo which I have to finish!"

Kotetsu hung his head. "One more thing…" he tried not to let Sasuke's exasperated sigh get to him. "Your brother wants to meet you. He's waiting outside, talking to Uzumaki-san…"

Sasuke's face turned white. "Tell him I'm busy…"

"But…Uzumaki-san told him you'd be there…"

Sasuke stood. "Fine, I'll be out right away…" he took a deep breath and calmed himself. Then he walked out to the living room where Naruto was talking to his brother. Itachi looked impeccable as always. He was wearing a black pinstriped tailored suit with a beautiful maroon shirt and tie. His long hair was tied in a neat pony tail and his long-ish bangs were trimmed to perfection. That's what his brother was…perfect. Peeking in the mirror to make sure his features were carefully blank he walked into the room.

Naruto looked up to greet Sasuke but stopped short. The man looked pale, though his face was calm. The dark eyes were blank of any emotion too. "Hey, Sasuke…look who's here!"

"Itachi." Sasuke ignored Naruto, focussing on his brother.

Itachi looked up and smiled a bit. "Sasuke…you've grown a lot…" Sasuke didn't reply, just gazing at Itachi waiting for him to get to the root of the matter. "I came to give you my condolences…I know it happened a month back, but I was out of town…"

"Thank you." Sasuke looked at the ground before looking back up with a frown. "Why are you here? There is something else isn't there?"

Itachi looked at him and gestured for him to sit. "Maybe Naruto-kun could give us some time alone?" Naruto made to leave.

"No. he can hear whatever you want to say and then you can leave…" Sasuke glared at Naruto who sat down again feeling uneasy.

"Otouto…our parents want to meet you."

Sasuke stared at him disbelief washing over his face. "What?"

"I said our parents want to meet you. Father is not feeling too well and mother hasn't spoken to him since you left…" Itachi looked away. "They wanted to ask me to tell you that they want to see you. Father especially…"

"No."

"They're your parents…they have a right to ask this of you…"

Sasuke stood. "No. I _don't_ want to see them."

"Sasuke! Just come. Meet father once…"

"Go home Itachi…or wherever. I am not coming home. The moment they disowned me they lost the right to call me son…"

"I…see…" Itachi stepped up to his brother and hugged him. "Well, all right. I never condemned you…so come to me if you need to…goodbye."

Sasuke stood stiffly until Itachi let go and left. Then he sighed. "Ok…I'll be heading out then. I have to meet Mr. Rivers about Uzuphone. See you for dinner maybe? If you're getting take-out I'd like pasta…"

Naruto nodded and watched him leave. Since when had Sasuke gotten so prickly? It made him feel frustrated that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get Sasuke to laugh like his dad had. In all those photographs Sasuke was laughing…even in the ones he wasn't the happiness was evident in his eyes. His dad had asked him to take care of Sasuke and make him smile…I seemed like the hardest task ever, because getting Sasuke to smile with genuine happiness seemed like a thing that could never happen!

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Things had begun to move more smoothly since the doughnut run. Now they could make conversation more easily with that touch of civility they hadn't had before. Sometimes it scared Sasuke…he could feel Arashi's will for them to be together…so what if they did fall in love? Sasuke did _not_ want to fall in love with _any_ Uzumaki again! He loved Arashi to the fullest; he did not want to love Naruto again. Sasuke hated reviving things, if it didn't happen then it was gone…there was no point in even trying. No he and Naruto were on the way to being best friends again and this time it would stop there!

He leaned over the huge seven foot square of glass…he'd been commissioned to paint a window for someone. He'd chosen a huge nine-tailed fox, but he had no idea how to paint it. Maybe if the client had given him some information about the colours in the living room it would have been okay. He decided on making the fox red with a gold background and started pouring paint between the lead lines. Using a fine tipped brush he controlled he depth of the paint in certain places.

He worked for four hours straight. He was in his shed, the one he'd built for all his artwork. The place was huge with a bed at one end incase Sasuke wanted to work through the night with a few hours rest. Luckily there had been only two leaks, so he was almost done. He didn't hear the door open.

"Sasuke?"

He almost dropped the can of paint. Then he looked at Naruto still panting slightly. "Don't do that dobe…you're supposed to knock."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I did teme! It isn't my problem if you didn't hear me! Want any dinner?"

"Dinner?" Sasuke looked at his watch. "It's ten already? Shit I hadn't realised, I had these contracts to finish…" he tailed off and began packing up his paints and other utensils. He had to wash the brushes with thinner right away otherwise they'd get hard. He finished and shoved the box of paints aside. Then he bent over the wash basin to wash the brushes.

Naruto stood over the painting, letting his fingers trace the lead lines very lightly. "Wow…Sasuke this is beautiful…" Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the fiery fox which seemed to jump from the frame. "You're going to sell this aren't you?"

"Duh, dobe…I was commissioned to do it. I don't know how much I'm charging though…maybe about five thousand dollars? It is just glass painting in a way, so it isn't too expensive." Sasuke shoved the brushes onto the tray and made for the door.

Naruto didn't budge though. "The lines are just so perfect…I like foxes…"

Sasuke had known that of course. He knew more about…had known more about Naruto than the dobe had known about himself. "Didn't you want dinner Naruto?"

Naruto frowned and looked away. "Yeah. Let's go…" but he stared at the painting on the way out.

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**A month later: (so it's been about Two and a half months since Arashi died)**

Sasuke sighed and leaned against the wall. It had taken two helpers for him to lug the bloody window out of the house. The wrapped glass had been left against the wall while they caught their breath. He was just about to carry it to the car, when Naruto appeared. The blond grinned at him.

"When will you be back? I found this great restaurant we could try…you'll be back in time for dinner?"

Sasuke considered it. All he was going to was deliver the glass, collect money and come home. It was a Saturday, so he didn't really have anything to do. It was about six in the evening and the whole run might take an hour or so…Naruto would want to leave by eight, so yeah he could make it in time. "Yeah I will…it's only a delivery. Tell me where it is…"

"Nah I'll wait for you here…the moment you get back we'll leave. Ja na." Naruto disappeared into the house.

Sasuke nodded to his helpers who got to moving the huge piece of glass again. They finally got it into the van and drove to the client's home. The apartment block was situated in a nice wealthy neighbourhood about twenty minutes drive from his house. Sasuke bade the others to wait in the car while he spoke to the client. He made his way to the ninth floor and knocked.

The door opened and Sasuke found himself looking into a pair of the prettiest green eyes he'd ever seen. He didn't realise he was staring until a deep voice brought him out of his stupor. He blinked a few times. "Uh…Sabaku Gaara-san?"

"Yes…and you are Uchiha Sasuke." It was a statement, not a question. "Come this way please…you could bring the glass up now, couldn't you?"

Sasuke nodded and called his helpers. They brought the glass into the room Gaara pointed out to them. Sasuke then turned to the man…he had red hair, pale skin and no eyebrows. There was a red tattoo of the 'love' kanji on his forehead. The green eyes were looking him over a little too intensely for his liking. "Sabaku-san…would you like to unwrap it and have a look? Something came up…which is why it's been delayed so much…"

Gaara moved to the glass and began cutting the paper off. Then he stood back and let his eyes roam appreciatively at it. It was a beautiful animal…a yellow-brown racoon on a sandy background. "It's beautiful…what's it called? And wasn't it supposed to be something else?"

"Shukaku…I had thought of something else, but it didn't seem to fit as much as this did…and now when I come to think of it, this looks much better in your living room. So could I collect the check?" Sasuke turned to Gaara.

"Five thousand dollars was it not?" Gaara fished out his check book. "Why don't have a drink. Have more projects I'd like you to do…"

Sasuke checked his watch. It was almost seven…he had an hour, why not? He loved his art and if Gaara wanted him to do more, then he could right? He nodded. "Wine please..."

"Wine? Or would you prefer something else? I have some really good vodka or cognac…" Gaara offered.

Sasuke thought it over…no he guessed wine would suffice if he was to dine with Naruto after all. "Wine, please…" magically a butler appeared with a bottle of wine and a long stemmed glass. Sasuke accepted the glass and took a sip…it was really potent wine. "So what do you want me to do?"

Gaara smiled. _There were many things he'd like the Uchiha to do, but now was no the time…not when the man was still sore from his lover's death. _"Well, there's this wall here, I need to put up something nice. Usually I'd go buy a Van Gogh or a Michelangelo, but I thought something original and local would look good. Your art is impressive…what do you think would look good here?"

And that was enough to start Sasuke off on a dialogue about themes, art, paint and such like. Gaara kept him supplied with wine, while taking him around the house pointing the places where he'd like art. Sasuke scribbled down all the things he'd like to put where and making notes on the type of lighting and stuff. If there was anything Sasuke was obsessed about it was his art…he could talk about it for hours.

He even made a few sketches and took down the stuff Gaara liked and disliked. Finally when Gaara asked him to stay for dinner, he accepted with a nod. Then he proceeded to eat and sketch simultaneously. The wine made him open up a lot more, so conversation moved pretty easily.

Finally he let up; he was feeling a bit tipsy…well a lot tipsy. Though his capacity was high a bottle and a half of wine would do that to you. "Yeah…I think I'm done…nar'to'd be piss'd if I didn go back now…"

"Maybe you should let my chauffer give you a ride back? You helpers and the van have left remember?"

"Hn…"

"Let me lead you to my car…."

It was half past eleven when Sasuke was dropped off at his front door. He rang the bell a few times and then some more just cause he liked the sound of it. The door was yanked open by an irate Naruto.

"Where the fuck were you?"

"At Sabaku-san's house….I didn't fuck him…I think he wanted to fuck me though…he was really nice and asked me to do art for his whole house! I told him yes…" Sasuke giggled, giddy with the prospect of staying shut up in his shed smelling like paint. "And he gave me every nice wine too…"

Naruto sighed and slipped an am around him. "Sasuke…you're a jerk…let's just get you to bed…" Sasuke let himself be led upstairs.

"Are you mad t me, Arashi?"

Naruto stiffened. He turned to look at Sasuke who looked cute with his eyes all puppy-like. The raven sniffed a little.

"Don't be mad at me Arashi…I promise I'll make up for it if we do it…I'll do that thing you like when I suck you off…"

Naruto's face went red and he clapped ah and around Sasuke's mouth. "No I'm not mad at you…just go to sleep. Look we're at your bed!"

"You are mad at me…you didn't call me Sasu-bunny…"

"Uh…I'm not angry, Sasu-bunny…" Naruto dropped the man into bed and began to undo his boots.

"Ok…" Sasuke watched interestedly as Naruto got his boots off. "Why do you have whisker marks like Naruto? He won't like it, you know…he'll think you're imitating him…and then he'll hate us more…and you'll cry more…it's all my fault…"

Naruto stopped again and glanced at Sasuke who was frowning with concern, biting his lower lip. "No Naruto won't hate us…just go to bed." He wanted to leave but Sasuke caught his arm and curled up with it effectively keeping Naruto by him.

Naruto waited by him until he was sure Sasuke had slipped off to sleep. He'd been so angry with the man for not turning up, he'd never expected Sasuke to turn up drunk and mistake him for his father though. He tried to slide his hand away, drawing forth a hushed murmur of 'Arashi' from Sasuke, but the raven sighed and went back to sleep.

Somehow the blond didn't feel hungry anymore and he had an inkling that Sabaku-san was Gaara, a long time partner. He would call and find out why he'd gotten his friend drunk in the morning. Grabbing a slice of last night's pizza from the refrigerator, he ate quickly before going to bed himself.

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Somewhere else, Orochimaru mused over the terms of Arashi's will. His employee Kabuto had told him about what he'd overheard from a conversation between Arashi's friends. Now all he had to do was make sure the two men hated each other enough to forget about Arashi's companies or fortune. Considering the circumstances it would be easy.

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A/N: yeah we;; that's all for now. Anya (deceptively sweet) old me that a nice chapter with them being civil would be good, or else it would drag. Don't worry angst-lovers this story will have more, but these chapters are good for my head too. Please review…

Taka


	5. Demons

**A/N: Here another chapter. And this story is not on hiatus…**

Chapter 5:

Naruto sipped his cup of coffee carefully as he looked out of the small double glassed window. The world seemed so small down there…all hose people milling about seemed so insignificant; up here none of their problems mattered. He listened to the new Peter pan Dibelakangku which had really good music. To him it didn't matter that he didn't understand any of the words, they were just good.

He wondered how many of those insignificant dots down there he knew…they were flying over Konoha right now. Any one of them could be Gaara, maybe Sasuke driving to the airport or even Kakashi going to work. He dismissed it. It was two in the morning; none of them would be out. He would have to call a cab…he didn't want the chauffer getting out of bed at this hour. He'd been in Wave Country for the past three months establishing and stabilizing a new branch of Uzumaki Corp. The three months had almost been like vacation…getting away from Sasuke.

He knew Sasuke had been relieved too. He could see it written all over the dark haired man's when Kakashi had announced that it was okay for Naruto to go away on business trips as long as he still called any place with Sasuke home. Vacations were supposed to be taken only together…well that depended on what vacation was defined as. He was sure Sasuke had used these past three months productively. In a way Naruto hoped Sasuke would have healed a bit…after all it had been six months since Arashi's death.

The pilot announced that they were going to land soon. Naruto fastened his seat belt and lay back closing his eyes. He loved the feeling as they landed. They made it pretty quickly. Naruto stopped at the baggage check and picked up his two huge suitcases, stuffed with Wave Country goodies. He hoisted a smaller bag onto his back and wheeled his trolley out through the arrivals gate. He headed to the cab service counter.

"Dobe!"

He turned to see Sasuke leaning against the far wall. The dark haired man came up to him and somehow took control of the trolley. Naruto stared at him in surprise. "Its two thirty in the morning, bastard."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I'm well aware of the time, dobe."

"Then why are you here?"

"To get you….I didn't want any poor cab driver suffering at your hands at this time. I'm used to you being annoying, so it doesn't really matter." Sasuke brought the trolley up by the car and began loading the suitcases into the trunk.

"Sasuke!" Naruto frowned as the other man indicated for him to get into the car. Actually the blond was quite grateful. This was so much more comfortable than a cab. Plus their house was two hours away from the airport.

They drove pretty much in silence, just enjoying the drive. Naruto glanced at Sasuke and was a bit pleased with what he saw. The dark haired man's confidence seemed back….properly. Sasuke didn't look the wreck he did when Naruto had left. He clothes fit him and he'd put on a bit more weight and looked filled out. The man seemed to have been working out too and a more satisfied look graced his features.

Naruto leaned back in his seat. He felt his eyes closing and a large yawn hit him. He drifted off into dreamland, lulled by the gentle movement of the car. Sasuke glanced at his friend and shook his head slightly. Trust Naruto to work constantly, he was sure this was the first time in ages that the man was getting any sleep. He bit back a yawn, he was pretty sleepy too. He'd been up all night and morning trying to finish the big floral Gaara wanted for his foyer. He was glad they were almost home. There was nothing he'd like better than to go fall onto his bed and drift off to sleep.

He drove into the garage he'd gotten build and parked. He turned to wake Naruto. Gently he shook the blond. "Naruto…" but Naruto just turned onto his side and tried snuggling into the seat some more. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Clearing his throat he went in for the easier approach. He grabbed Naruto and shook him. "Dobe! We're home!"

Naruto's eyes flew open and an incoherent yell of "wha?" sounded through the car. His moment he got his bearings he glared at Sasuke. "Asshole! What the heck was that for? You could be gentler you know!"

"I tried. But when you rolled over like a hippo, I decided this worked just as well. So? You planning to stay in the car all night, old man? Or do you think you could make it to your bedroom?" Sasuke asked, his eyes mocking the blond.

Naruto grumbled and got out of the car. He waited for Sasuke to open the trunk before hauling out a part of his luggage and going to his bedroom. Sasuke appeared soon after with the other suitcase. The dark haired man watched him for a moment and ten sighed. "Listen have you eaten anything? If you feel like it I made some spinach and mushroom soup…"

Naruto nodded. "I did eat, but soup would be good…" he followed Sasuke downstairs, undoing his tie and shrugging off his jacket. Sasuke heated up the soup in the microwave before pulling out two soup bowls and filling it up. He slid one over the counter to the blond.

"So how did it go?"

"Tiring and very pissing off actually. Old man Tazuna refused to give his company up until I finally convinced him that I wanted a partnership and didn't want to buy it. Then we had to make sure we could do better than Gatou…I'm still a bit worried about that man. He seemed pretty angry that I collaborated with Tazuna. He'll give us a bit of trouble." Naruto eat ravenously. "Apart from that in a lighter vein, there were many pretty girls…unfortunately I did not have any time for them. Tazuna's grandson Inari seems pretty capable. We went to the beach when we had the time…see this awesome tan I got?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Uzumaki, you were _born_ tan…I don't see why you have to go get more tanned!"

"So what were you up to?"

"Well, your friend Gaara…I suppose he's my friend now too… commissioned so many paintings… I've been up all night working to finish them for the past three months. He's a lot of fun to be with…you were right. He came over a few times…we had a good time. And well apart from that Uzuphone has been doing really well. I might have to open up a branch in Rice Country…I'm hoping that venture goes well. We've had huge orders for steel…they're building that big bridge in Wave Country ne? It's been pretty good. Gaara's brother Kankuro visited. Man does he know how to get wasted…I didn't find it funny though, since he kept puking everywhere!"

Naruto laughed. "Yeah Kankuro gets like that. How come you're not hitting the bed? Don't you have a lot to do?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Do you realise tomorrow is a Sunday moron?"

The blond grinned sheepishly. "My time sense is a bit messed up. Wave country is twelve hours behind, remember?"

Sasuke nodded and cleared the bowls. Placing them in the sink with water, he stretched. "I'm off to bed. Sunday or no, I have plan for tomorrow so I'll need the sleep." He saw Naruto's questioning look. "Gaara's taking me to this really cool hot springs spa...come along why don't you? We can catch up there and I'm sure you haven't talked to Gaara in a long time either…"

Naruto wondered if Sasuke really wanted him to come along, but none of the signs said that he didn't. So he nodded. "Just don't get me up at some unearthly hour."

"Ten o clock dobe…it isn't unearthly." Sasuke headed upstairs. And Naruto hear his bedroom door shut. Stretching and fighting a huge yawn Naruto made his own way upstairs. Somehow…the house did feel like home.

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"Dobe?"

Naruto blinked and opened his eyes to see Sasuke standing over his bed. The raven was dressed in a round neck blue t-shirt and blue jeans. He looked a little pissed. "Naruto…get ready ok? Gaara will be over in five minutes or so! Dammit I should have known you wouldn't have put on an alarm!"

Naruto jumped out of bed and scrambled for the closet. He ran in and came out pulling on his jeans with an orange t-shirt halfway down his waist. Sasuke clicked his tongue and reached over pulling the t-shirt down. Naruto's breath caught a tiny bit as those pale knuckles brushed against his toned tummy. But Sasuke was too pissed to notice. He waited for the blond to button up his jeans and tossed a backpack at him.

"Here, just put things you want to take in here. I'm taking some CD's for the ride and some snacks just in case you feel hungry. By the way Shikamaru and the others from school are joining us. I didn't know Gaara knew them all…" He sighed a bit irritably.

"Well of course Gaara knows them all. Shikamaru and I knew Gaara. He doesn't know the Hyuuga's yet, but if the school gang is coming then I guess Hinata and Kiba will be a part of them?" Naruto grinned. "Why are you looking so pissed?"

"I don't feel like socializing. If they're coming it mans Ino and Sakura will be coming as well! Which means that they will want to nose in my business…they never stopped that for the first year even when they found out I was dating Arashi!" Sasuke sighed again, more forcefully this time.

Naruto winced a little at his dad's name. He should have gotten used to this, but the three months away seemed to have made him forget in a way. He watched the sliver of sunlight make its way through the blinds and dance on Sasuke's face. And suddenly, Naruto could see exactly what his father had found attractive in Sasuke…at least physically. He remembered how when they were best friends, they used to sit under that huge tree after football practice. The sunlight used to play on their faces and Naruto would wonder how the heck Sasuke could be so beautiful…like a girl…in fact even Hinata wasn't as beautiful as Sasuke…

"….Gods, u idiot!"

Naruto blinked and looked at Sasuke who seemed to have been saying something to him. "Huh?"

"I said 'they're here', dobe…what the heck were you thinking of?" Sasuke frowned. "And stop staring at me!"

Naruto shook his head. "Got a little lost in thought…" he mentally berated himself for even thinking like that. And shoved the thoughts in with the weird ones he'd had in school…the ones where he'd felt a sudden urge to kiss Sasuke or had thought of Sasuke while kissing Hinata…oh well, one did not think of things like that.

Naruto shouldered his backpack and followed Sasuke out the door. The raven nodded to Gaara, whereas Naruto gave him a one armed hug. "Gaara, how's it going man?"

The red head just nodded. "Going good…I brought the others along…and Shikamaru brought more people along. I hope you don't mind that he brought your ex and her new husband as well…" the last part was said in a lower tone.

Naruto shook his head. "Hey Hinata! Kiba! Where's Miyagi?" he smiled when they said they'd left him with his grandparents. He made the rounds, he group was pretty big. Shikamaru had brought Kiba, Hinata, Chouji, Ino, Sakura and Lee. Gaara had brought Shino. They were all there except for Neji who had apparently left on a business trip.

They drove down to the hot springs resort, three hours away from Konoha. Naruto had missed this chatter actually. He hadn't seen them all together in ages. And it was nice the way Sasuke was accepted back…the raven had cut off all contact with them since he'd gotten together with Arashi. Lee was currently interrogating Sasuke on his business practices. Kiba was trying to ask Sasuke if he'd like to partner with his firm. Sakura and Ino were still squealing over how hot he and Sasuke looked. Naruto grinned, this was life.

The girls disappeared into the changing rooms and the guys headed to their own. They all had to shower first in small cubicles. Naruto couldn't help but notice the smooth curves of Sasuke's body. The man was defined muscle…it was hard not to appreciate such manly beauty. That's what Naruto told himself…he was just appreciating Sasuke's beauty. He looked away and around and his eyes fell on Gaara who was not so subtly checking out the same beauty. Naruto wasn't sure he liked what sparked in those green eyes as they wandered over Sasuke's body. He pulled on the loin cloth and then walked over to Gaara. He grabbed the red head.

"Come on, talk to me…we haven't talked in ages."

Gaara nodded. "I'm just asking Uchiha to do some art for my home. He's a very good artist…he'll make a name for himself in that pretty soon. How did Wave Country go?"

Naruto filled him in on the details and they slipped into the hot water. Sasuke joined them not soon after. The girls immediately latched on…one on Sasuke and the other on Naruto. The day passed quickly enough. The girls left after a few hours complaining about becoming prunes or something of the sort…Hinata being who she was stayed on, but she talked more to Kiba…they were still in their newly wedded bliss part of their relationship.

Shikamaru had claimed Gaara and was talking about some business venture, since he was their lawyer after all. And Naruto found himself feeling vaguely thankful that the red head wasn't around. He and Sasuke were by themselves at the comer of the pool. Chouji was munching away in a corner and Lee it seemed had left to see if he could win Sakura's affection.

Naruto chuckled. He looked up to see Uchiha's questioning look and grinned. "It's just Lee…you would have thought it's been five years and he'd have given up on her by now. But then again it's _because_ it's Lee…I think Sakura had better accept him soon."

Sasuke nodded. "But I wonder if she will cave in finally. I mean its Sakura and from what I can see, she still prefers the good looking and wealthy. I think I might have to drill it into her head literally that I'm _gay_! This is why I stayed away from them!"

Naruto looked at him. "Are you sure that's the reason?"

Sasuke looked away for a moment before meeting his eyes with determination etched in them. "Yes…it is a part of the reason." He reached over Naruto to pick up one of the titbits on the tray next to the blond. Naruto had to will his body not to stiffen as the Uchiha's arm lay against his chest. The few seconds actually seemed like minutes. Then it was gone and Sasuke was taking a tiny bite, staring at the water contemplatively.

Naruto wanted to grab his head in frustration. He did not want to admit that he'd missed Sasuke a lot when he was in Wave Country. The three months he'd spent with the bastard before he'd left had actually made quite an impact on him. No matter what had happened, Sasuke _had been_ and _was_ his best friend. And he'd gotten used to Sasuke…actually it was almost like he'd never left…with exception of the pain the both of them felt about Arashi's death. But that had been friendship! _Did being away make me crazy? He's my best friend…he's beautiful but why the fuck am I reacting like this? It has to be because I'm so sexually frustrated…it's been a fucking year since I got any!_

Naruto steeled himself…he needed an excuse to get away from Sasuke. He smirked. "What was the other reason Sasuke? Were you scared?"

The raven almost dropped his food and stared at Naruto in disbelief. He'd thought things were getting a bit better between them and now Naruto seemed to be needling him again. "What did you say?"

Naruto smirked, his eyes mocking the raven. "I asked you if your other reason was because you were scared…of keeping in touch with these friends of ours…?"

Sasuke's lips tightened. "Yes…I was scared. I didn't want to be shunned because I was with your father. I mean you did it…what was the guarantee that the others would stick by me? But you know what surprised me? The fact that two years ago, Shikamaru called to say he didn't care and that he'd like to keep in touch? I was too busy back then, but they were more friends than you were…"

"It was my father you were shagging, you jerk…" Naruto kept his voice low. "It concerned me directly."

Sasuke stood. It wasn't a good idea as Naruto was drawn to how tight that ass looked in the wet loin cloth. Sasuke glared at him no idea about what was actually going through his head. "I thought things were getting better, Naruto. I wish to god you hadn't come!" he waded to where Kiba and Hinata were and began to talk to them.

Naruto hoisted himself out of the pool and made his way to the changing room. He changed quickly and sat down on one of the benches. Soon Lee found him and the rest of the day went pretty quickly.

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Sasuke opened the door to the house; Naruto had said he'd be back with Gaara later. He'd thought things were okay…what the fuck was wrong with Naruto. He'd seen that malicious calculating look in those blue eyes. Naruto had said those things deliberately. He'd deliberately wanted to start an argument…he'd deliberately wanted his comments to hurt.

Sasuke wandered into his bedroom and shut the door. He lay on the bed and picked up that picture on his bedside table. He smirked as he saw Arashi's smiling face.

"I don't know. You actually thought keeping us cooped up like this would work? I don't know what's bitten his ass again…but he's trying to keep us fighting. I had thought we were starting to get our friendship back, but I guess I thought wrong. I still miss you…but it has become more bearable." Sasuke put the frame back and changed into some pajamas.

He made his way out to his shed and decided to work on the landscape for Gaara's bedroom. He tried concentrating but it wasn't happening. He finally walked back to the house and into Naruto's room to see if the workers had come in and fixed things up the way they had told them to. He penned down a note and left it by the thing. Then he went to bed. At least he could catch up on some sleep.

Two hours later Naruto unlocked the door. He waited to see if he could hear Sasuke anywhere, satisfied that he didn't he moved to fall onto the couch. The day had been harrowing. For some reason the thought of being attracted to Sasuke scared the shit out of him. _But you did crush on him…remember all those times you dreamed of him? The times that you kissed your girlfriends thinking of him? You know you wanted him…_Naruto shook his head and clutched his hair.

He couldn't deny that he'd always wanted Sasuke. He'd always brushed it off as the side effects of growing up. He'd had a beautiful girlfriend, an awesome father, lots of money and a best friend who would die for him…who he would die for. He'd never seen a point in giving into to stupid hormonal urges and jeopardizing all that. So everything had gone like clockwork. He'd done everything best friends were supposed to do with Sasuke…except for those times they'd slept in the same bed and Naruto had stayed awake all night for fear of what he might do. Then he'd proposed to Hinata when they were 19. They'd gotten married and he'd come back to find that Sasuke and his dad were lovers. He remembered that moment perfectly.

_He'd just gotten back from his honeymoon. They'd all finished dinner and Hinata had retired to the bedroom. Naruto had gone looking for Sasuke and his dad to have some 'man' talk. He'd heard some whispering coming from his dad's study. _

"_When are you going to tell him?" _

"_You mean when are __**we**__ going tell him…?"_

"_Today…we should tell him today…" Naruto knew that was Sasuke's voice. He wondered what would make his friend sound so unsure of himself. _

"_Sasuke…he'll understand…its Naruto…" _

"_You don't get it, Arashi…I'm no sure he knows why…" and then there'd been a slightly muffled noise. _

_Naruto had pushed open the door…and his eyes had widened in shock. His father's arms were around Sasuke and the raven's face was against his neck. _

_And then…something in Naruto's stomach had bottomed out…and rage like never before had filled him. Something about seeing Sasuke of all people in his father's arms pissed him off. _

Naruto shut that memory out. He hated the taunting voice that came with it. _Maybe you were angry with Arashi…not because you hated o see him with anyone…but because it was Sasuke…_he sopped it right there.

This had been one of Naruto's own demons…a demon that had persisted for five years, making him angry whenever he saw that smile or happy satisfied look in Sasuke face when he was with his dad. Dammit, he loved them both. Naruto stood up feeling sick. For the last five years he'd lived with this self disgust…

"Aaaaah!" he yelled a little. Then he got himself water and headed to his bedroom. He fumbled forth light witches in the ark and flicked one on. Suddenly his room lit up with dim light…coming from a huge stained glass painting of a fox with nine tails. Naruto switched on the proper lights and gaped. His far wall which had been bare for so long was covered with the painting with had been placed a little in front of the wall with space for a light at the back. It looked beautiful and provided enough light to see with. But with the brighter lights on, Naruto spotted the note on the bed. Unbidden a grin came onto his face. He laughed and fell onto his bed, his eyes tracing the lines of the painting. He'd definitely have to make it up to Sasuke.

_Dobe,_

_Since you gazed so lustfully at it, I've decided it's found a good home with you. But we're still not even, so you owe me big._

_S_

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**A/N: ****Finally one more chapter done. I can't believe it took so long!! I hope you liked it though…Yeah Naruto has his own sick demons from the past and this is one twisted story. You see though he knew he would lose Sasuke to someone, he'd never thought it was to his dad…I hope you liked some of these truths being revealed. Please review I've put loads of effort into this chapter.**

**Taka**

**Again I have an exam and I am typing this chapter out!! I think my inspiration is my exams…**


	6. A Bad Day

**VOTING TIME!! A/N: ok please select one of the following. First lemon: SasuNaru or NaruSasu? Please select on basis of their characters and I'll go with it if it seems ok….though after this chappie I wonder if there will be any need or this question…**

Chapter 6:

Sasuke frowned at the painting on the wall. The painting did not fit…he wondered why he'd thought a floral would fit in the first place. This was Gaara…a man like Gaara…with the house that gave off the air that Gaara's house gave off, would not have a floral painting in the foyer. He was sure that Gaara wouldn't be happy with the vase of lilies he'd painted either…he decided to change it to a picture of trees or something else…something that had nothing to do with lilies. Maybe a bird of paradise flower would suit?

"Sasuke…?"

Sasuke turned to see Gaara standing behind him. "Hey…I was just thinking…this doesn't fit…"

"I know. I heard you talking to yourself…so what are you going to put there instead?" Gaara looked amused.

"Dunno. You like those flowers called 'bird of paradise'? I think that would look good here…" Sasuke smiled back at him. "Don't give me those mocking smiles, Gaara…I know I get carried away…"

Gaara only smiled even more. "Listen…how about you join me for lunch? I'm hungry and it's one all ready…"

Sasuke frowned and looked at the time. "Ok. Only if you let me get back home soon. I have tons of work to do apart from your paintings and all."

They left to a small Italian restaurant near by. Sasuke as usual ordered rice while Gaara ordered penne. The red head couldn't help noticing how gorgeous the raven looked when he was cheerful and satisfied. Traces of sadness still lingered in the face, but all in all, Sasuke was pretty happy and it showed. Gaara gave himself credit for the improvement in a way, because it was he who had gotten Sasuke back into his art. He liked the fact that Sasuke came to him for advice sometimes and didn't mind hanging out with him.

"So, how's the company going?"

"Going good actually. There's nothing much to do with the steel plant, that runs itself pretty much. It's Uzuphone that I love working with…there's so many things to come up with. I spend time working on new softwares and stuff…sometimes I like checking out the marketing division…" Sasuke sighed. "Arashi knew it could draw me in!"

Gaara looked at him for a long moment. "It's good to know you're happy. And with Naruto?"

Sasuke looked up and opened his mouth, but closed it again. Somehow it didn't feel right discussing Naruto with Gaara. Or discussing Naruto with anyone…they'd never actually talked to other people about each other except for Arashi and Hinata. "Naruto's fine."

Gaara couldn't help feeling a tad bit jealous. He took a bite of his food and concentrated on eating for a while, before making up his mind. "Sasuke…"

The raven looked up, chewing his rice carefully and raised an eyebrow at the other's serious tone. "What?"

"Are you over Arashi?"

The question couldn't have been more bluntly phrased. Sasuke looked a bit startled. "What? I…why are you asking me this?" he looked into the deep green eyes, which were watching him intently.

Gaara took a deep breath. "I would like to date you." The red head had never done this before so he went with the direct approach. "I like you a lot…I think maybe I could fall in love with you as well…"

Gaara looked up to see Sasuke looking at him like a deer caught in head lights. The dark haired man composed himself fast enough, but not before Gaara had seen the bewilderment and fear in those eyes. Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Gaara…I don't know…" Sasuke saw the defeated look in the other's eyes and wondered how to phrase this. "Maybe…I'll think about it…"

Gaara nodded. "I didn't mean to spring it on you, but I couldn't hold it in any longer…"

They stayed silent for a while. Gaara wanting to shake Sasuke and demand that they start dating; Sasuke wanting the ground to open up and swallow him. They were saved by Sasuke's phone which began to ring.

"Hello? Sasuke…?"

Sasuke sighed. "Yeah Naruto, what?"

"We have to go to the bank today. I need some cash withdrawn from our joint account for the pool…and I need you to sanction it as well since it's a large amount…" Naruto's voice sounded upbeat like he was doing something fun.

For all Sasuke knew the dobe might have just released a new set of Icha Icha Paradise or something with that pervert he worked with. "I'm having lunch right now, but I'll drop by as soon as it's done."

Gaara watched as Sasuke put the phone down. The raven silently finished the last bits of pasta and stood. "Listen Gaara, I promise I'll think about it…I mean you're very attractive but…I just need time…"

The redhead nodded, keeping his face expressionless. "I'll see you day after then? Or will you take longer for the new painting?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Dunno. I'll call you when I'm done."

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Naruto usually didn't like banks…but he enjoyed being in this particular one. It was the only bank he knew where the transactions were fast and the employees friendly without sticks up their asses or fake-ness pouring out of every pore. But he still wished Sasuke would hurry up. All the teme had to do was sign a document, while Naruto had to waste more time discussing an overseas account and his stocks with the manager. Think of the devil…

Sasuke sauntered in, looking to be deep in thought. He took a seat by Naruto and sighed. "So what do you need me or? I have to get back home, lots of things to do…."

"It's no like I'm sitting here kicking my feet and twiddling my thumbs you know…I have work too. I just need you to sign this document for that joint account we're making and then you can leave. I still have loads of stuff to do here. So let's just wait for the manager to get here…" Naruto twiddled his thumbs. "So…how was your day…?"

"It went okay…not so bad really. I'm going to have to redo a painting but otherwise it's fine. Come to think of it, the lilies will look good in our foyer…" Sasuke mused.

"No way!! No lilies anywhere…what are we? Girls?"

"It isn't always girls that go with flowers, Uzumaki-san…" the manager sauntered in a sweet smile on her face. Naruto really liked this woman, she was intelligent, grounded and always had something nice to say. She also knew her stuff.

"Uh…no offence meant by that…I just don't like flowers…" Naruto grinned at her.

"Yes well, all you have to do Uchiha-san is sign this form. Then you can leave…" Gina pushed the form towards him.

Sasuke read through it and then complied. Then he shot a small smile towards the two of them. "I have to get going now, I'm sorry, but you'll have to excuse me."

"Yeah yeah, go on. Hey if you don't mind could you pick up a cheese burger for dinner? I really want one…i even dreamed about one!!" Naruto tried his puppy eyes.

Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance. "That's to be expected of you. I'll get one, so get home quickly. I'm not making it better if it gets soggy!"

Naruto's mouth turned down. "Ne, you're the only one who makes it okay!! You have to do it, if I'm late."

Sasuke just shrugged and smiled at Gina before walking out. Someone bumped into him hard on his way out. Staggering he saw a man with green hair clutch his arm.

The man glared at him. "Watch where you're going you bastard!" with that childish statement, the man stalked off, leaving Sasuke feeling extremely pissed.

Sasuke heaved another sigh. The day was just turning out so bad. Anyway how much worse could it get? Gaara had all ready dropped a bombshell right? Yeah well. He drove to the nearest McDonald's and found that almost every single person in the city had decided to go for fast food today; the bloody line was so long. Gah, the things he did for Naruto…he wished the idiot would just disappear one day…it would be so much more peaceful!

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Naruto looked at the stack of paper's Gina had put before him. He wished he could just get it over and done with. He had too many businesses to run and he was still licking Uzumaki Corp. into shape. And he had various ventures in stocks and shares which seemed to be taking up all his time nowadays what with the instability in the stock market.

He listened carefully to whatever Gina had to say, all the while wishing he was by Sasuke at home, helping he raven with whatever work he had. He suddenly realised he was thinking too much about Sasuke again. It had always been that way since Sasuke had given him the nine-tailed fox painting. Naruto wished he hadn't repressed these feelings in his early childhood, but what the hell.

"Uzumaki-san?" Gina waved him back to the stack of papers. "Please pay attention, what I've got to say is important!"

"Yeah, please go on…I'm sorry, I'm just distracted today…"

"You're always distracted!" Gina said a little sternly. "What I don't understand about you, Uzu---"

She got cut off as a gunshot reverberated through the building. The door burst open and a man entered, the steely nozzle of his gun pointed at them. "You two, get into the main hall now."

Naruto caught Gina's hand and yanked her up. He nodded and slowly escorted her to the main hall. There were three men with guns and all the people in the bank were down on the ground. Naruto made sure they could watch all his movements as he guided the manager to an empty spot and sat down.

The green haired one looked at Gina and growled. "Gimme the code to your safe…" in a cliché bad-man voice.

His was the point when Naruto should have been the hero and tried to bad mouth the man or looked for an exit, but his logic told him to stay quiet. He looked at Gina with a 'give him the code….then we'll think of something' look.

Gina's lips tightened. "And why would I do that?"

"You'd do it to keep your life…" he green haired man, who was clearly the leader, grinned. "Don't ask me stupid questions just answer me. What is the code?"

"There is no code as such. It as to have my finger prints and scan my retina to let you in." she caught Naruto's eyes and then sighed. "Why don't I just let you in? But I'd like Naruto by my side…"

"Yeah you can take your boyfriend with you…there isn't much he can do against us though…" Green-y motioned for them to get up and lead the way. It wasn't much of a walk actually since the vault was in the main hall.

Gina walked to the vault and opened the first set of protection with a code. When she got to the second set she hesitated…watching the attacker to her left out of the corner of her eye she lunged. Naruto who had been watching her lunged for one man too.

'_Oh god why do I get myself into these_ _situations_'

It was then that the gun went off….

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Sasuke walked into the house and sighed. He'd spent hours in that line. He decided he'd take some time off before he started on work. Getting himself a glass of water, he switched on the TV and went to the news channel. When Naruto wasn't around he got to the watch the news in peace. It wasn't that he liked the news or anything, but he did like knowing what was happening in the world.

As the news telecast came in he froze.

"_There has been a hold-up at the Kiku Bank. Three men have held the whole bank hostage and are demanding hat the police get them a vehicle for their get-away. There have been no casualties yet…"_

Sasuke almost dropped the glass, but held on. Was Naruto still in there? He picked up the phone to dial Naruto's number frantically. He rang four times only to have it ring out. Sasuke fell onto the couch, his insides churning with worry. No…Naruto couldn't be in any danger, could he? Sure he was a loud mouth, but the idiot knew when to keep shut, didn't he?

But Sasuke knew that Naruto would do something silly. And silly was an understatement. _Please be all right…_Sasuke tried to concentrate on what was being said.

"_Apparently the men are trying to get the money from the bank's vault and are pressurizing the manager to open it…" _ Sasuke growled….what else did men trying to rob banks do?

"_Wait…we've heard a gunshot…someone's been killed…" _

Sasuke's heart stopped. _Naruto…?_

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A/N: I think I'll stop here, I know it's a short chapter but more will be out soon. I'll try my best...

Taka


	7. Freak Out

Chapter 7:

**A/N:** sorry for the delay!!

Chapter 7:

Blood spattered everywhere. A few screams sounded. Naruto dropped and rolled. He stood blood all over his shirt. Wiping the bit on his eyes to clear his vision, he took in the sight. Gina lay on the floor, a pool of blood around her…the guy she had tackled was dead, and it seemed the bullet had gone right through him. It gave Naruto some hope for Gina.

He was up and running at the other man standing. Before the third one could fire someone else had tackled him. The hostages started taking the situation in hand. Naruto kicked the gun out of the startled man's hands. He looked a little shocked and it reassured Naruto that the man hadn't killed anyone before. They grappled each trying to get the other down.

The other man who had been tackled slammed the butt of the gun into his captor's hand and aimed at Naruto. Narrowing his eyes he pulled the trigger. The bullet flew.

Naruto struggled as his assailant held him down. He turned slightly and tried to shift his weight. He let out a cry of pain as a bullet zinged past him, cutting through his shoulder. He staggered a bit but it was a flesh wound. He growled and hooked his leg around the man's knee and pulled him off balance. Rolling on to him, he let the other customers deal with the other for a bit and began punching the man has hard as he could. Once he was sure he'd knocked the man out, he picked up the gun.

There was all this anger and desperation flowing through him. It was as if testosterone had taken him over completely, turning him into an animal…he aimed at the last man…making sure no one was in the ay Naruto fired. His hold body vibrated as the bullet left the gun and he couldn't take his eyes off the man who was hit….the first person he'd killed. Maybe it was the after shock or the knowledge that the man had a hole in his chest that hit him…but it didn't take away from the fact that he'd killed when there was no need to.

Naruto dropped the gun and sank to the floor. The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving him with a tired and empty feeling. He heard more than saw the police force rush in. The other hostages were filling them in on what was happening. After what seemed like ages, Naruto stood up and walked out of the bank. Gina was being tended to, so he had nothing to do but go home. He made his way to the car, somehow avoiding all the policemen who were around and proceeded to drive home.

--

"_We just heard a few more gun-shots…the hostages seem to be taking the situation into their own hands…the police seem to be worried….this is too dangerous. With all the hostages milling about, the police don't know whom to shoot at…"_

Sasuke felt his insides clench painfully again. _ Naruto-idiot….pick up your fucking phone…are you all right? Please be all right, dobe…I didn't mean it when I asked for you to be gone!! _The news reader seemed to really like talking; it started to piss Sasuke off…he switched to other news channels only to realise this wa the only one covering it since it was local news as of now.

Finally the camera man focused on the hostages who were being led out by the policemen. Sasuke's eyes frantically searched for a blond head, but the camera man swung back to the reporter too fast.

The stupid woman seemed to have gotten a hold of a hostage to interview. She was talking to another man who looked a little worse for wear. "So sir, what exactly happened at the bank?"

"Well you see, there was his man with green hair…he was he first one, he held out his gun and fired a few times into the air…" the man spoke and Sasuke drank in every word trying to get some news of Naruto. It was only five minutes later… (The newswoman let them man talk to his heart's content) that Naruto was even mentioned. "…….and there was this blond man with her, they jumped at the men, but one of them shot the manager…then this man tackled the others and I joined the fray and well…I think he killed the third man….by mistake…I dunno…"

The reporter smiled. "I'm sure it was in self defence….thank you very much." She turned back to the screen smiling. "So it seems apart from the manager none of the hostages have been badly hurt…."

Sasuke turned off the television. So Naruto was alive…thank god. He set the glass down on the coffee table, unaware that he'd been holding it too tight, until his cramped fingers began to ache. _He killed someone…_and Sasuke felt that emptiness return. It would have a bloody big impact on Naruto…_but he's safe…_

Sasuke sat with his back to the couch and watched the front door hungrily. It seemed to take forever…this waiting for Naruto. Sasuke swallowed back the loads of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Ever since Arashi's death, this had never been the case. He'd felt more of less blank, but this had given him a shock to the system. He knew that his rapid heart rate and uneasy restlessness would not go down until he saw Naruto safe and sound, no matter what the news said. The first thing he would do the moment he saw Naruto was….

The door opened quietly and Sasuke's heart leaped to his throat as Naruto walked in, his shirt covered in the blood, a makeshift bandage on his shoulder and a light coating of the dirt from the bank floor. The blond man looked a bit dead, but the blue eyes seemed to seek Sasuke out. They looked at each other for a fairly long time before Sasuke found himself agilely leaping over the couch and making his way towards the blond. The moment the brunet reached him, they caught each other up in a hug, Naruto burying his face into Sasuke's shoulder.

"You're safe…."

There wasn't any reply, but Sasuke didn't actually expect one. Naruto pulled away and made his way to his bedroom. Sasuke followed him worriedly, a frown appearing as the blond threw himself onto his bed. He ducked out a moment and picked up the first aid kit and a few bandages. Sasuke sat by him moving closer; he got Naruto to sit up and started cleaning and dressing the wound. It wasn't too deep and Sasuke was grateful for that. That done, they sat in silence, Sasuke stroking Naruto's blond hair as the blond shut his eyes and pressed his head into the pillow.

"Naruto…"

"I killed him Sasuke…"

"I know…it was on the news…self defence…that's ok…"

"No…" it was whispered.

Sasuke moved a bit closer. "Hn?"

"It wasn't self defence. I killed him…" Naruto sat up and looked into Sasuke eyes. "In pure cold blood. He was fighting someone else and I just aimed and pulled the trigger." The blue eyes took on a haunted look that Sasuke wanted to chase away.

"Naruto…"

"Cold blood…I didn't even realise the enormity of it until…till I saw him there covered in blood…" Naruto's voice rose a bit and cracked…

Sasuke moved closer, letting his fingers thread soothingly into the blond hair. "I'm sorry…" he didn't know what else to say. If that was how it was, then what did you say to make it go away? He didn't see it coming. Suddenly Naruto's lips were upon his and he was pushed back into the bed.

(Lemon)

It took his breath away, but he couldn't help but respond equally hard. Naruto was safe…and Sasuke didn't know how to show the blond how glad he was. They broke apart, panting slightly and just looking at each other. Both their eyes glittering with emotion they hadn't dared to show before. Sasuke couldn't help but pull Naruto closer, their lips touching lightly, chastely before deepening into another full blown kiss, this time their hands running lightly over each other's clothes. Sasuke hand's pulled Naruto fully on top of him, his legs spreading to accommodate the blond man between them. Their groins came into contact with each other. They gasped softly.

"Sasuke…" Naruto's eyes held a plea, a plea for it all to go away. Sasuke kissed him again.

"I'll make it all go away…" his voice was soft, reassuring. He lifted his head to shower a few kisses down Naruto's jaw, before letting his tongue trail against Naruto's lips. His hands slipped under Naruto's shirt and slid up and down his toned chest. Naruto opened his mouth a bit allowing, Sasuke's tongue to slip in. A tongue which mapped out every single bit of Naruto's mouth. The blond couldn't help but moan a bit, as Sasuke's hands reached his dusky nipples and rubbed them a bit. He slid his hands down Sasuke's back into his pants, to cup the soft, firm ass cheeks and pull Sasuke against him. Their groins met and again leeching whatever sanity was left from the situation.

Naruto growled a little, suddenly wanting to concentrate only on the pale man beneath him. He took control of the kiss deepening it as he ground down again, eliciting a groan from Sasuke. His fingers attacked Sasuke's shirt, almost ripping the buttons off, in his haste to get to the pale chest. Sasuke in a completely un-Sasuke-like way fumbled trying to Naruto's wife beater off as well. They were both bare-chested within minutes, hands sliding over each other's chests, exploring, mapping every bit of flesh. Naruto kissed Sasuke, before moving off to kiss down his jaw line. At a certain spot he could feel Sasuke's erratic pulse under the smooth, pale skin. Naruto bit down, pleased at the small gasp that Sasuke gave, concentrating on leaving a large red hickey on the spot. He licked at it soothingly, before moving downwards, kissing and licking until a nipple blocked his progress. Looking at the pale, light nub, he gave it a light graze with his tongue. Sasuke stiffened for a minute before relaxing beneath him. Naruto licked it again, before trying out the effect of a nip. Sasuke bucked up against him, making them both groan out in pleasure. Naruto started with the other nipple as Sasuke moved to undo the blond's pants. Soon the bothersome garment was off and Sasuke began on his own. The friction improved so much when they were clad in their underwear that Sasuke didn't hesitate in stopping Naruto's ministrations and pulling off the briefs he wore. Both men hissed as their swollen cocks met. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hips and they began to move against each other frenziedly. They weren't really thinking about what they were doing…the pleasure was too great and they had wanted this too long.

"Sasuke…how do we do this…? I've never…" Naruto stopped a little. Sasuke said nothing and ground into him. Naruto just let himself be guided for a bit. Then Sasuke reached for a vial of oil which had conveniently been left on the table next to the bed. He seemed to frown for a second or so, but then coated his fingers in it. Naruto tensed…he didn't want to bottom…not right now…then Sasuke slid his fingers down and into himself. Naruto's eyes were riveted to the brunet's pink hole…to the fingers moving in and out slickly. Before his brain could comprehend anything, slick fingers were coating his cock, and then he was positioned right at the entrance into Sasuke…

Sasuke took a deep breath…he didn't want Naruto to know…that this was his first time bottoming. But he could see the indecision in Naruto's eyes and he couldn't stop now. It was all right…it was Naruto…his hazy mind couldn't see past that. He stroked himself as Naruto began to enter; pain began to seep in mixing with the pleasure from his cock…Naruto stopped a few times to take a deep breath before continuing. Sasuke grit his teeth…stroking harder not wanting to go limp…not now. Finally Naruto was in as far as he could go; the blond moved a little trying to fit more comfortably and suddenly he drew a startled gasp from Sasuke. "Th…there…right there…"

Naruto caressed Sasuke's face before moving out half way before he slid back in attempting to hit that spot. They slowly settled into a rhythm, though the beginning was a bit awkward. Sasuke's mind was just a glob of pleasure, his senses were heightened and he could feel _Naruto_ in him. Naruto began to stroke him in time to his own pumps and Sasuke thought he'd melt. He was being pushed unfailingly towards the peak. For Naruto it was very different. Apart from just being with a guy this was Sasuke…and this was better than his dreams. The look on Sasuke's face as he writhed under him was more of a turn-on than he'd thought possible. This was an aggressive male Sasuke writhing under him and giving up to him…that was when Sasuke moaned his name out. The deep voice saying his name that way sent Naruto into orgasm mode and all thoughts were now focused on reaching the climax together.

They sped up, panting hard, grappling to keep their rhythm going and to get there. One hard thrust and Sasuke came, Naruto following him. The blond collapsed on top of the raven, exhaustion seeping over him.

(End Lemon)

Naruto pulled out and snuggled into Sasuke, pulling the bedclothes over them. They hadn't cleaned up, but neither had the energy to get to the bathroom. Naruto just used his boxers to wipe the brunet clean and then shut his eyes.

--

The light desert tunes flowed from the speakers at the Lebanese restaurant. The two dark haired men sat silent, observing the others for a while, until the shorter haired one smiled suddenly. "It's been quiet a while…what can I do for you?"

The older man helped himself to a creamy piece of chicken kebab. "It's important that you do this right. You have heard that brat Arashi is dead?"

The younger man nodded. "Car crash…"

"His son Naruto is back in town…" the older man slid a few photographs over. "Take a good look at him…"

"Hm…wasn't he involved in that hold up at the bank this evening?"

"That's got nothing to do with this. They'll acquit him of course. Your job is a lot easier. The other man in the picture is Arashi's lover…also Naruto's best friend. Now here's the thing…"

The younger man listened carefully and nodded. He liked the plan. "This will be enjoyable. Is that all?"

"We have another person working on the Uchiha…so little Naruto is all you have to concentrate on…"

The younger man nodded and stood. "Consider it done then."

--

It was warm. He couldn't help but snuggle into it some more. He sighed at the thought of actually having to wake up and get on with his day. His pillow felt extremely good today too, firm but soft…kind of smooth…obsidian eyes shot open as the recollections of the night before hit him full force. Sasuke found himself looking at blond hair…below which a tan face, exactly like Arashi's slept peacefully. Naruto…

He'd slept with Naruto…Arashi's son…Naruto…his best friend… Naruto… who'd shunned him. No, not another Uzumaki! Not Naruto….no…he couldn't revive _this_! Who knew why Naruto had done what he had? Yeah he'd killed someone…but that didn't mean they had to…. Sasuke didn't know what he'd been thinking last night…

He scrambled out of bed and bit back a yell as his ass hurt. It hurt so bad…he limped to the bathroom to continue the rest of his freak out session. He'd let Naruto top…he'd _never ever _let anyone top. Not even Arashi…oh no…

Sasuke leaned against the cold mirror and bit back the pain, confusion and fear that threatened to overwhelm him. Uchiha's did not feel fear…and now that Arashi wasn't around to make Sasuke feel whatever he actually felt, he decided to revert to the Uchiha form of things. Taking a quick shower and moving to his own bedroom for his clothes, he made his way to the kitchen. Downing a couple of pain killers so he'd be able to walk properly he started on making some eggs for breakfast. _I bottomed…I submitted…_

He sat at the table trying to figure out how to face Naruto when the said blond came in. Naruto looked fresh and robust, with his hair still wet from the shower. Sasuke tensed, not knowing what to expect and keeping his face blank.

"Good morning. Mmmm…eggs….did you make me any, bastard?" Nothing gave away the fact that anything had happened when it came to Naruto's demeanour.

Sasuke nodded. "They're over there. How do you feel?"

A shadow passed through Naruto's eyes, but the blond gave him a short smile. "Pretty good…" Naruto could see the concern and worry in Sasuke's eyes but he didn't want to work on it. He didn't want to remember that he'd let any of that happen last night. He'd never thought he'd allow himself to sleep with Sasuke…maybe if they pretended that nothing happened, it would go away.

"Naruto…" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

The blond gave him a look of his own. "What?" his voice came out tense.

"Pretty good? Don't lie to me Naruto…"

"Why ask a question if you all ready know the answer?" this time Naruto's voice came out as a growl.

Sasuke decided not to rise the bait. He just stood to make a few more eggs and slid them onto a plate before handing it to Naruto, who took a seat opposite him. They ate silently, both acutely aware of what had happened between them.

"It was a stupid question." Sasuke didn't know why he was trying to smooth things over; this was when he was supposed to be pushing the blond away.

Naruto just grunted. Inside he was feeling the deepest kind of turmoil he'd ever felt. Luckily for them both his phone rang. It was Kiba. Naruto picked it up and slid out of his chair. He just wanted to get away from Sasuke for now….he couldn't handle any of this shit.

Kiba was droning on about what Miyagi had done during the week, before actually coming to the point. He wanted to meet Naruto for some advice about his business and then he wanted to discuss Miyagi's inheritance. Naruto took a while getting the silly dog to get to the point, knowing that the man was only doing it to provoke him.

He finally got off the phone, but even before breakfast was done, the police called in order to make some enquiries. It took a few hours of talking, explaining and discussion for them to tell Naruto that he'd have to come in to a court hearing. All the witnesses had testified that Naruto had acted in self defence so the hearing was just a formal procedure.

Naruto got back feeling pretty dead. He couldn't help reminiscing the whole incident, the look in the man's eye as he fell dead was stuck in his memory. He shook his head to get it out, but it kept coming back. If he wasn't thinking about that he was thinking about Sasuke…Sasuke last night, how Sasuke had made the pain go away last night. Naruto hung his head. Things had gotten so much more complicated….just when they were getting better.

He looked up to see Sasuke standing at the door. The brunet was leaning against the doorframe, looking absolutely sexy, but what caught Naruto's eye was the picture frame next to him, the one with his father and Sasuke. Roiling anger took a hold of him suddenly. Sleeping with Sasuke had only made the jealousy he'd felt before worse. Somehow sleeping with Sasuke yesterday knowing that Sasuke didn't have any feelings for him…that Sasuke had only had feelings for his father made him mad.

Sasuke completely unaware of all this commotion in Naruto's head, made his way up to the blond. He sat down next to him, glancing at the injured shoulder for a moment. "I think we should change the dressing…let me get the first aid kit…"

"That won't be necessary. I think its fine."

Sasuke seemed a bit surprised at Naruto's tone. "Naruto, we have to change it and now's as a good a time as any. Just let me do it okay? Or are you afraid it'll hurt?"

Naruto looked up a snarl on his lips. "I'm not afraid." It sounded childish, which made him angrier. "Listen, just because you were my slut for one night, doesn't make you my caretaker okay?"

The smirk on Sasuke's face froze. It took a while for him to process that sentence. "What did you say?"

"I said just cause you were my slut for one night, doesn't mean you can take care of me. It might have worked with my father, but I don't want to be mollycoddled." Naruto smirked. "Maybe you should see to yourself? I detect a little limp there…ass hurting much?"

There was a short growl and Sasuke was on him in a minute. Before they knew what was happening they were pummelling the guts out of each other. Sasuke forgot about the wound, forgot about Naruto having killed someone, it was like he could only see red. A short whimper from Naruto when he struck his shoulder stopped him. He stood up and started to back away.

His face was pale and he had a large bruise forming on his cheek. His onyx eyes met Naruto's…pain, betrayal and hurt filling them like pools. "I can't do this anymore…." Then he turned and ran, leaving Naruto prostate on the floor.

He ran for a whole block to work off all the feelings. He didn't get this…so had Naruto just been using him? Or maybe Naruto was just freaking out? Sasuke didn't know what was going on, he'd put aside his Uchiha pride and tried to make things okay. His common sense kicked in. whether he was freaking out or no, Naruto had gone far enough. He shouldn't have to take this shit anymore, now that Arashi was gone, no more Uzumakis!

His phone buzzed and Sasuke glanced down at the id. It was Gaara. Making up his mind in a split second decision he picked it up. "Hello? Gaara? I have something to say. I've given it some thought…I'd love to date you…"

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**A/N:** no don't kill me….we all need some angst. Gimme your thoughts!! So what did you think? I spent a load of time on this chapter trying to make it work!! So tell me if it was good. I'm working for a news channel now and am really busy, so please bear with the erratic updates!! Loadsa love to my darling readers and reviewers!

Taka


	8. Bleak

Chapter 8:

"So it's a deal…" he flashed at grin at them and then proceeded to usher them out trying not to make it obvious that he just wanted them to leave. Once they were out he sat back in his big and comfortable chair and twirled around a little. He glanced at a picture of his house back in Konoha and sighed. He'd been away for four months now and somehow all he'd wanted to do was return. But he couldn't face him after having said that.

The phone rang breaking through his thoughts like a newly sharpened katana. He picked up without thinking and then almost banged his head against the wall when he realised who it was. "Kakashi…"

"Four months…research I've been doing shows you have no intention of returning. Get your ass back here or I'll send Orochimaru a letter telling him he's gained everything!"

"B…but last time you allowed me to be away for three months…this is a business trip."

"No it isn't. Slowly moving your things to your apartment over there, while all company problems have been taken care of by a notable clerk does not constitute a business trip! I'm sorry Naruto…it's my job to keep an eye on these things…and Arashi has hired other solicitors to watch you too…I'll be expecting you back in a week. Have your things sent ahead." The line went dead.

Naruto grit his teeth. See Sasuke again? Well he wasn't a coward…but…he sighed. Well he had known this was going to happen sometime. He pressed a button to connect to his secretary. "Book tickets to Konoha for this weekend. Have all my belongings sent ahead please."

Well…back to Konoha he guessed.

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The music was addictive and Sasuke just gave in to it, just moving to the music and having fun. He felt Gaara's hand on his shoulder and willed himself to stop imaging it was Naruto. If he couldn't forget the blond for all of the four months they had been apart, then he wondered what the chance of doing so tonight was.

It wasn't that he was averse to being with Gaara … but the damned blond idiot kept popping into his head all the time. He opened his eyes and looked into those beautiful deep green ones…_ I can fall for these…_ Sasuke gave a slight shake of his head. He didn't want to keep repeating the mistake of falling for someone while he ran from Naruto. Now he'd take his time…Naruto was away on business after all. He hoped the blond would stay away ignoring the pang in his heart which warned him that he was just wishing for the opposite.

Gaara suddenly caught his wrist and led him off the dance floor. "I can't dance anymore. I'm sick of this…my place or yours?"

Sasuke frowned a bit. "Didn't you say your brother was at your place? It's the weekend remember..." he glanced at his watch. "It's almost Sunday."

Gaara grimaced. "Your place it will have to be. You must love having the house to yourself…"

Sasuke's frown deepened a bit, but he pretended to be in a hurry to get to the car to avoid answering that question. Once Gaara got in, Sasuke relaxed a bit. Some physical time was just what he needed right now, it would work out all the tension in him and help him bond with Gaara more. Funnily enough even after four months he still hadn't fully slept with Gaara. While he knew having Gaara be uke would be fun…(he'd made up his mind not to ever bottom again) something seemed to stop him from going there…most likely it was the blond idiot's face which came up. Today he would work towards him and Gaara….no one else.

Gaara looked out of the window. "So have you talked to Naruto? What are his plans? Is he coming back? Will I have to set up a new meeting place for us? Somewhere where we can actually get to having sex?" he smirked at Sasuke.

"No he hasn't contacted me. And what makes you think I'm not having sex with you because I'm uncomfortable in my surroundings?"

"Is there another reason? I know I'm too good looking for you to resist me. So either you're not comfortable…or there's someone else…."

Sasuke grimaced. "There's no one else." That came out a bit too harsh. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gaara look at him sharply. "I'm not comfortable yet. Look…Gaara…I rushed things with Arashi and even though it went very nicely for me…I'm not ready to rush things again."

Gaara nodded looking a bit thoughtful. "I'm glad we're dating…if I had to commission anymore artwork from you, I'd have to move out of my house in order to fit it all in." he caught the questioning look on Sasuke's face. "Not that I didn't want all the work I'd commissioned…"

Sasuke remained silent. And then he cleared his throat. "Not that I'm ready…but I'm seme. It's that or nothing at all."

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't matter to me. Bottoming doesn't make me feel submissive or weak. It's just sex. And if it feels good hat's good enough. And if you being top makes you feel macho then so be it."

Sasuke suppressed a frown. This was Gaara…he should be grateful that the redhead was being so understanding. "All right. So do we have any plans for tomorrow? Or do we sleep in?"

"It depends on far I get with you tonight…"

The rest of the drive went by in silence. Sasuke didn't want to answer that question and it seemed Gaara had no intention of changing the subject. The moment they stepped into the doorway, Sasuke had Gaara against the wall. He kissed him hard, trying to take out all his anger on the redhead. Gaara pushed him away in order to breathe and then smirked pulling him back, those green eyes glowing with amusement.

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Naruto wheeled his trolley out of the airport. Like the last time he almost wished Sasuke'd been waiting to pick him up with some sarcastic remark or the other. But there was no one in sight. Naruto sighed. It was almost midnight. It looked like he would have to bother a cabbie after all.

He got a nutrition bar at the slot machine and then headed out. About to get into a cab, he heard some yell his name. Turning around he saw it was Kakashi. Puzzled he raised an eyebrow.

The older man smiled. "I had to make sure that you got home. Come on."

Naruto dumped his cases at the back and then climbed in. Kakashi started the car and neatly pulled out onto the road. "So how was your 'business trip'?"

Naruto scowled. He could hear the quotations around those words in Kakashi's voice. "Good…could you stop berating me about it?"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto…if you keep haring off on these 'business' jaunts, you're going to jeopardize your father's fortune as well as Sasuke's life."

"It's not like I was going to stay away forever…"

"It certainly looked that way to me…Orochimaru _knows_. He knows that he inherits everything, if Sasuke or you mess up. And according to the way Arashi wrote his will, it seems fairly easy for you two to mess up."

"I _know_….Kakashi I know okay? I do not want to have this conversation with you. I won't let Orochimaru get this fortune ok? Not because I want it, but because I just want my father's beloved businesses out of his hands…" Naruto grimaced.

"I'm not too sure _what_ you know…" Kakashi pursed his lips. "If Orochimaru wants all of this…which he does, he's going to find many ways of getting it. The point here is for you to be alert and keep an eye out for things like that. In order to do _that_ you need to buck up and get along with Sasuke!"

"What did he tell you?"

"Nothing. I just can sense something wrong between you guys. It's not like he'll tell me anything after that restaurant incident after all…"

"What incident?"

Kakashi paled a bit. "He didn't tell you? Of course he didn't tell you…. nothing really we just…we…implied that he was using Arashi..." e hoped that Naruto wouldn't ask more about…that he would be angry enough to launch on a tirade and forget to ask for the explanation.

"_What?_" Naruto looked at him, those blue eyes like gimlets. "What do you mean…_used_…?"

So much for that…Kakashi switched to another tactic. "Why would you want to know?" his tone was innocent. "It doesn't seem like you care for Sasuke anyway…and it can't be about Arashi…you didn't care to know anything about them when they were together…"

For a minute it looked like Naruto had been slapped. Then the blond just sat back and turned to look out of the window. "I wish people wouldn't keep throwing that in my face, all the time…I made a mistake…though with Sasuke I still feel betrayed. I still…" _I still like him…and it terrifies me._ Naruto left that unsaid.

Kakashi sighed. He was about to sympathize with the blond when his phone trilled. He pulled over and reached for it when Naruto handed it to him. he thanked the blond and stepped out.

Naruto frowned. In the moment when he handed the phone over to Kakashi, he'd noticed part of the caller's name…_Uchiha_...was that Sasuke? If Sasuke was awake then why hadn't he come to meet him? Was Sasuke very very angry? He waited impatiently for Kakashi to return…

The moment the silver haired man was back in his seat, Naruto pounced. "Was that Sasuke?" When Kakashi shook his head, Naruto's frown deepened. "Then which Uchiha was it?"

Kakashi glared at him, looking very secretive before sighing again. "Itachi. Look I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Sasuke. He's still mad at me and I can't loose anymore of his trust…"

"Tell me about the incident and maybe I'll consider it…"

Kakashi scowled his eyes on the road once more. "Quite a few ways of 'negotiating' you have there…do you actually mean to _blackmail_ me?"

Naruto bit his lip. He hadn't meant to let that out…"No. I'll keep it secret."

Kakashi nodded and the rest of the drive passed in silence. Soon they drove up to the house. Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well here we are…"

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**(Slight Lemonyness)**

Sasuke kissed him hard and hungrily, letting is tongue trace the redhead's lips. Then he slipped it in, sliding it against the other tasting Gaara. _He doesn't taste like Naruto…_ he stopped his thought stream there, plugging it and focusing all his attention on this kiss. Gaara moaned into his mouth, turning Sasuke on more…making him a little harder. Smirking, Sasuke slid his hand's down Gaara's clothed chest and let them rest at the hem of his jeans. Undoing the button deftly and unzipping him, he let his hand slip under the underwear to cup Gaara's arousal.

Sasuke didn't register the sounds coming from outside. this power he felt over Gaara was heady…his concentration was solely on the sounds the redhead was making and focused on making sure that any thought of Naruto stayed out. He pulled away and looked into those green eyes as he stroked him a little roughly. Lust was evident all over the pale face with the kohl lined eyes. Sasuke felt aggressive, his lips pulled tight, all the borderline feminity in his face gone. He needed to tame Gaara…those green eyes…looking…elsewhere? Sasuke snapped out of it just as….

"Sasuke?"

The extremely familiar voice shattered all he was feeling, giving way to a sudden dismayed shock. The dark haired man turned around to see two equally shocked men…but his attention went directly to the blond one. "Naruto? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Water country!" his voice came out harsh and he belatedly moved a bit to give Gaara some time to fasten up.

The blond looked at Kakashi. "You didn't tell him?" his voice came out sounding fine, but inside he fought for control over the rage that was building up inside. He needed to find a tactful way to get out of the room.

Sasuke solved the problem. His initial shock disappearing, he faced Naruto with a stoic look, though his eyes had a strange glitter. "We should have gone to the bedroom. We didn't know you'd be _dropping by_…" he started walking to the stairs. "Gaara?"

The tattooed man hesitated but moved behind Sasuke, up the stairs. Naruto stared at them dumbfounded. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nar.."

He shook it off. "I'm going to bed."

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He woke up late, around mid afternoon, but made no move to get out of bed. Even the loud growl his stomach let out didn't really make him budge. Last night's 'great' home coming trickled into his mind. "This was my fault…" he mumbled. "I should just get up and get on with life…" he swung out of bed and slipped into the living room.

He saw Sasuke at the open kitchen; Gaara was nowhere to be seen. The brunet was either ignoring him or really hadn't seen him. Naruto made his way to the counter and sat down, examining his nails intently. _How should I begin this conversation?_ A plate of spaghetti being slammed in front of him, with a fork stuck in the centre didn't really encourage him much. The raven did not deign to say anything but walked into the living room with his own plate.

Naruto trailed after him, bristling a bit at being treated like he didn't matter. Despite the killer aura that floated from Sasuke he plonked down one seat away from him on the couch. As much as he would have liked to get closer, he really didn't think being killed by a fork would be worth it. He made a great show of clearing his throat. "So a one-night stand with _Gaara_?"

"We've been dating fro four months…" Sasuke's voice sounded bored.

Naruto sank like the titanic inside. "Very fast worker aren't you?"

Sasuke chewed slowly…aggravatingly. "No…not really. Why are you back?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just don't see why you're back? Don't you want to be someplace else?" Sasuke cleaned the last of the sauce up with a piece of bread and ate it. He placed the plate on the coffee table. "Oh yeah…you _couldn't_ move out. So what's the new destination? What new and long _business_ trip are you planning next?"

Naruto chose to focus on the business trip part of it. "It _was_ a business trip!"

Sasuke had gotten up to stash his plate in the dishwasher. He came back and sat down, letting his head rest on the back of the couch. Exposing his long slender neck to Naruto's scrutiny. "I didn't say otherwise. But in my honest opinion…which I am bound to give on account of being your one-time best friend…should it matter…is that you were running away…"

Naruto tried not to gaze at him. Sasuke was enemy damn it! "I had nothing to run from." He got only a nod in response. "In fact one could say _you_ were running shacking up with Gaara…"

Sasuke stretched his muscles rippling. "Naruto, you pushed me away. You don't seem to get that I needn't take your insults. Gaara asked me out on the day of that…incident…before it happened. Your leaving confirmed that we had nothing between us. Now if you're going to hold the fact that I moved on against me…and say that you expected me to pine for you…then you may do so. It does not make a difference."

Naruto stood. "It seems I am not allowed anymore business trips. So I'll be around…"

"Kakashi did seem angry that you kept running despite Arashi's forcing you not to." He curled up on the couch. "I'll be sure to use my bedroom or Gaara's house. We'll be quiet." He closed his eyes and dropped off to sleep.

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This was the first bar he and Sasuke had drunk at. They'd faked their ID's gotten piss drunk and then thrown into jail for a night till they got bailed out. it hadn't changed much. The pool tables were still there…they'd placed that night too and he had beaten Sasuke…the brunet had never gotten over that.

He sat down and ordered a scotch on the rocks. Sipping it, he mulled over the earlier conversation. _I lost him…_the thought swept him away like a tsunami. _I lost him to Gaara…_ something flared. "I'll make Sasuke pay…" he stopped. "No…what am I thinking?"

The bartender placed another glass in front of him. "Courtesy the man over there…"

Naruto looked and saw a man by the pool tables. He looked a lot like Sasuke, but paler, too slender and the hair was too short. Slowly Naruto smirked, running his eyes over the other man's body. He'd do. Picking up his glass he walked over, a feral smile gracing his lips. "Naruto. And you are?"

"Sai…wanna play, Na-ru-to?"

Naruto grinned and set his glass down. "Why not?" he reached for a cue. His eyes glittered in amusement as the man frowned at being misunderstood.

"You misunderstand me…"

Naruto's grin widened…this guy seemed so…bland…blank…_this is going to be fun!_ "I know…play a game…depending on the outcome, we'll see…"

The game progressed swiftly and Naruto won; potting all the balls expertly. The dark haired man pouted. "So…what'll it be?"

Half hour later and a few stops later hey stood in Naruto's room. The blond bent over the shorter man. "Do you want me Sai?"

The blank man moved, sealing the other's lips in a long kiss. Naruto took over, kissing him roughly, lightly stroking him through his pants, until he was sure, Sai was horny as hell. Then he stopped.

"How much do you want me?"

"A lot…"

"You'll have to do better than that…"

Sai groaned in impatience. "I want you to take me now!"

"And if I do, what'll you do for me?"

Sai stared at him blankly. "Huh?"

"If I fuck you…what'll you do for me?"

"What do you want?"

Naruto lifted something out of a package and grinned sexily. It was a wig…he twirled it. "Let's role play…you put this on. Your character is 'Teme'…and I am 'Dobe'…got it?"

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**A/N:** sorry for the long delay. Life is happening. Tell me what you think of this please!

Have you heard about the terror attacks in India? I was watching the news…there have been so many, but this one in Mumbai was the worst…so many have died! My best friend was there a few days ago…so it was a bit crazy…but she's safe. I was watching code geass and was wondering how it seems so righteous in anime but in reality it's just sooo awful!

Sigh…I don't know why I said that…but yeah…must be the weird nightmares. Apart from this life is just full of assignments…

Ja Na Review please!

Taka


	9. Clarity

Chapter 9:

**One and a half months later:**

The television was blathering about something stupid. Gah, the idiot box! Sasuke flipped through the channels again, trying not to chuck the remote at the TV. Nothing good was playing on _any_ of the 300 channels he had. He switched off the TV and opted to pace up and down the living room in frustration. Gaara was away and that weird Sai boy-toy of Naruto's was upstairs. He was pale and dark haired…just like Sasuke…just like Hinata. Maybe Naruto had a fetish for pale dark haired people…maybe Naruto missed Hinata and wanted Sai and him to be replacements.

He shook off the line of thought and went over to the computer. He'd suddenly gotten hooked on to that new movie that was out…It was called Haru wo Daiteita and was about to gay actors…the fanfiction written about them was awesome. Sasuke couldn't believe that girls could write such good stuff. The lemons were good…Sasuke wondered if all the girl authors spend their time in voyeuristic activities with regard to gay men, how else could they write such stuff so well? He opened a funny one about hot springs and began reading it….which suddenly made him remember their trip…the one with Naruto all those months ago.

Sasuke shook his head and continued to read, snorting softly at the funny parts…Uchiha's didn't laugh. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but didn't bother to turn around. Naruto was narrating something to Sai, his voice disappearing down the drive as he walked Sai out. Sasuke snorted, but this time in distaste. He'd just gotten to the funniest part of the story, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke stiffened completely, sitting absolutely still and ramrod straight. Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sasuke…"

"_What?_"

"Eh…" Naruto sounded a bit nervous. "Wanna go get a doughnut?"

Sasuke felt anger welling up in him again. He bit his tongue and made an effort to go back to nonchalantly reading, hoping that Naruto would take the hint.

"_Sasuke_…I'm asking you something, teme…" Naruto's whine got a tad bit louder. When Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto repeated the whole thing in a louder voice. All of it gained him a punch that sent him right into the ground's embrace.

"_Fuck. You._"

Sasuke started making his way across the hall to the staircase, when a hand curled around his wrist stopping him. Naruto's voice was completely serious. "Sasuke…we have to get back to being friends. Orochimaru knows about the will and will most probably make a move to break us apart…"

At that Sasuke whirled around and punched Naruto again. His cool had evaporated, leaving him in an angry heated mess. "Fuck you! You fucking run away at every opportunity and have the gall to say that to me? You ran away! You ran away then, you ran even now…I didn't…I'm the one that's stuck here trying to keep things going. You keep thinking that we're all here for you to return to!"

Sasuke walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar. He slammed him against a nearby wall. "What if I don't want to make up, Naruto? What if I tell you that the will stated that we have to live together…it never said amicably. What if I were to tell you that I don't want to be 'friends', that I don't want to be used and thrown away…that I am happy with things continuing the way they are…I'm fine with hating you…"

"Sasuke…" Naruto tried to speak, seeing all those emotions swirling around in those black holes that Sasuke had for eyes.

"No…" Sasuke growled. "No. I don't want to hear it. What if I died Naruto? What if on one of your periods away I had died like Arashi? Would you come to me and say you regretted it? How many times and how much loss will it take to make you face your fears? Sometimes all I feel like doing is walking out into the traffic in the hopes of getting mowed down. But then I wonder how much you'd care anyway? And we both know you probably wouldn't care much…you'd go out and find a look alike for me and go on living to the happiest. God, Naruto, why can't I just fucking hate you?"

Sasuke let go off him and stalked to the staircase. Naruto stood up and brushed himself down. "A simple 'No I don't want a doughnut' would have sufficed." He watched Sasuke clench his hands before seeing him disappear upstairs. When he was sure Sasuke had gone, Naruto sank into a chair. Fear like a cold vice gripped him. He couldn't bear the thought of Sasuke dying…he had to regain his friendship…even if it meant just taking a grumpy Uchiha out for dinner and trying to act friendly. He didn't think he could run anymore…

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And that was how two evenings later Sasuke found himself sitting opposite Naruto at a Mexican restaurant, fighting over what they should have for starters.

"Nachos…"

"Flautas…"

"Quesadilla…"

"Flautas…"

"Mexi skins!"

"Flautas…"

"Teme!"

"Dobe…"

"Uh…excuse me?"

"WHAT?"

"…." Cold Uchiha glare.

The waiter cleared his throat nervously. "If you get the platter, you could get some of everything…"

They nodded and let him go bring it. Sasuke refused to talk past telling Naruto what he wanted to order. But Naruto was having none of that. "So how are things with Gaara? Haven't seen him around for a while?"

Sasuke pursed his lips. "Why don't you ask him? He's your friend too isn't he…?"

"I haven't talked to him since…well…"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Ok. This wasn't what Naruto had in mind when he'd wanted conversation. "I don't know. Look…I'm sorry…about what I said…I freaked out."

Sasuke just looked at him for a few moments. "Hn…"

"Sasuke…I know I've been acting like an asshole, but I really am sorry…"

"What makes you think sorry will cut it, Naruto?" Sasuke looked towards the waiter who was bringing their order. He did _not_ want to look at the blond across him right now.

"I _don't_ think sorry will cut it, I'm just apologising because I feel bad. I guess you need to know the truth too, so I've decided to tell you." Naruto sighed. "It was complicated… I'm sorry that I had no idea how to react all right? I mean you were my father's boyfriend…my father asked me to protect you…do you have any idea how it feels?"

Sasuke looked at him then. He sighed. "Naruto…of course I know how it feels…but I don't run away from my feelings all the time! We would have talked it over…I'd thought we'd gotten close enough to do that…."

"I'm sorry. That's all I can say. I know that you might think it doesn't cut it…but apart from that and trying to face up to my fears, I don't think there's anything else to say…"

The platter of the extremely yummy food was set in front of them and then they were busy looking at what to order for main course. Sasuke didn't know how to reply to that so he decided not to reply. Naruto on the other hand felt a little annoyed at the fact that the Uchiha seemed to be saying nothing.

It was in the middle of the meal that Gaara called. Sasuke excused himself and moved to a corner to converse. Once he was done he came back looking all thoughtful. Seeing Naruto give him a long stare, he blurted. "Gaara wants me to join him on his next business trip that's happening next week. I was wondering if I should accept…"

Naruto crinkled his nose. "Not that I support all this Uchiha, but you really think too much. But you know what? I'm going to help you get your mind off everything by taking you out tomorrow…no more work for you mister!"

Sasuke frowned. "Just because you worked overtime all these months doesn't mean that you should stop me from working. And why should I be wasting my time with you anyway?"

Naruto wasn't called a loudmouthed, oblivious and tornado-like idiot for nothing. Like the whirlpool he was named for, he swept people off their feet and this was the first time in years that he'd done it to Sasuke….he was banking on that fact to get the Uchiha to agree. "So yeah…I've got the whole day planned…let's get the check."

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Itachi tapped his fingers on the able, frowning. He looked over at the silver haired man sitting opposite me. "So Orochimaru's all ready made his move?"

Kakashi nodded. "It seems that way…only thing is I don't know who the plant is….it bothers me….but I've been getting information that the boys all ready trust whoever it is. I've done as many screen checks as possible…but nothing's come up."

"Are they really keeping you informed about everything that goes on? I hope you impressed it up on each of them that you are looking out for them?" Itachi frowned. "Though for Sasuke to trust you after everything would be extremely difficult…I don't know why you've made our decision harder Kakashi…"

Kakashi sighed. "It isn't like I meant to make it this hard. It slipped out that night and Sasuke was definitely not supposed to hear all of that." he caught Itachi's eye. "No I'm sorry I made a mistake ok?"

"As long as you're clear on that…"

"Hn."

"Does Naruto know about who Orochimaru really is?"

"No."

"Keep it that way. What he doesn't know won't hurt him especially in this case…"

Kakashi nodded. "I'm off to make more enquiries."

"Find something. It is of utmost importance to the Akatsuki that Naruto remains in the dark and Orochimaru does not get his hands on the fortune."

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Sasuke groaned and rolled out of bed when the cheerful voice rang down the corridor. Naruto had been so loud that Sasuke's ear drums were hurting even though the blond was yelling from the kitchen. He hated that the blond had weaselled his way into his heart again…not that Sasuke wasn't all ready head over heels in love with him, but he'd managed to forgive Naruto again!

He sighed and brushed his teeth watching the tooth paste swirl into the drain with light pink tints of blood from where he'd brushed too hard. Sometimes he wished he could just drain himself away to another place…but a very Naruto-like voice reminded him that sewers were dirty and proceeded to inform him in detail of what went into the sewers. Sasuke shook his head…having the dobe reside in his mind must be the first sign of madness…Naruto would drive him nuts.

The said blond was standing at the counter in a pink frilly apron and shorts holding a pink wooden spoon. His grin reached from ear to ear as Sasuke almost had a nosebleed. "Goooood moooooorning Teme-sama….I've made you your favorite herbed scrambled eggs and sugar-free musk melon juice! Smiiiiile for me…"

Sasuke nodded his thanks and scowled. Naruto had known that asking for the Uchiha to smile was a bit too much and settled from grinning enough for two. He spent sometime watching the brunet eat…somehow since he'd decided not to runaway from his feelings; he just felt the need to act on them. Not that he was going to tell the Uchiha how he felt, but he was going to try and win back Sasuke's favour.

After breakfast he whisked Sasuke off to a massage place for some good and healthy backrubs. Naruto poked the teme in the shoulder. "God that's a huge amount of tension there…."

Sasuke scowled. "Well yes…not everyone would like to skip work and get back massages…"

"You are so anal teme!"

"Shut up."

"Teme!" Naruto whined. Then he put on a sympathetic look. "Aw, it's ok teme-baby, the sweet little masseur will get you feeling all better." He ducked the punch that swung his way and did a little victory dance inside his head. He'd broken past one of Sasuke's barriers and the banter was back to normal!

Sasuke stripped down to nothing and wrapped a towel around his waist. Seeing Naruto in similar garb made him want to jump the blond. He shrugged it off and missed Naruto giving him a similar look. They continued their banter throughout the massage though it was interspersed by a few moans when something felt a bit too good…each moan making them blush slightly.

It was in the dressing room that things got a little weird; each man tried hard not to check each other out but ended up doing just that. Neither realised the other was doing the same things until their eyes met…it was a time for blushes and glares.

"Checking me out, dobe?"

"Not really, baa-chan…just marvelling at how the stick got out of your ass…"

"Still suck at insults, eh?"

"Teme…"

Sasuke stepped aside as Naruto swung at him and knocked him on the head. Naruto whined and tried a kick…they got caught and got chucked out.

"Your fault, dobe…"

"What? Your prissy little bum can't take being chucked out?"

"An unhealthy obsession with my ass don't you think?"

Naruto gaped at him and then looked away. It kept him shut for a while, with Sasuke smirking. Naruto fumed…the teme was back in bastard mode…good…but it didn't mean that Naruto enjoyed it!

He took the raven to a comedy next. "Took" meaning forced Sasuke inside by threatening to tell all the women that Sasuke was looking for the "one". Sasuke wore a disgusted expression.

"Resorting to blackmail, dobe?"

"No. Just threatening you, if you don't comply…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's the same thing!" Nevertheless the moment big blue eyes turned on in full blast Sasuke sighed and went in. sasuke never noticed Naruto watching him like a hawk through half the movie.

So when the blond took a chance during one of the darker times to lightly brush his lips against Sasuke's the brunet was caught off guard. He recovered and glared, trying desperately not to lean forward again.

Naruto almost smirked knowing what was going on in Sasuke's mind. So Operation: Separate Sasuke from Gaara, was working perfectly. He just shrugged when Sasuke stared at him and accept the clout that came his way.

Sasuke couldn't brush it off as easily as he thought he could. He was craving Naruto's lips once more. So the second time the blond leaned in Sasuke kissed him back for a few seconds before pushing him away. _Gaara…think Gaara…_

"Stop it!"

"Why?"

Sasuke wanted to tell him to stop because of Gaara…but something stopped him. He just got out of his seat and stalked out of the theatre. But he was stalking as fast as he wanted to because the blond caught up very quickly. A few apologies later, they were headed home.

The next few days went by in almost the same way, with changes in the destination. Naruto kept taking small opportunities to kiss him…claiming that Sasuke had looked too 'hot' to ignore. For some reason, Sasuke couldn't shut him out like he used to. And so passed the week. They visited amusement parks, shrines, tea houses (where Naruto played the part of a tea master in a kimono…it bothered Sasuke because only the honoured were ever given the honour of a tea ceremony), hot springs, movies and restaurants.

Sasuke had had fun. He hadn't had this much fun since Arashi had died. The evening before Sasuke's business trip with Gaara who was back, but was willing to meet him at the airport tomorrow, they were sitting on Naruto's bed. Naruto had found a box of old pictures and had once more bullied Sasuke into looking at them.

"Look at this one…gah…you're giving that 'I'm a Teme' smirk again….you were only 10 years old!!" Naruto laughed.

Sasuke smirked. "Ah…but you're still giving that goofy grin…I remember that time…you wanted that fox and you threw the biggest tantrum you could! Finally Arashi agreed after you peed in the neighbour's garden!"

Naruto growled. "Shut up…you did worse things, like setting Kanami-san's shoes on fire…"

"That was because she always threw them at us when you got us into trouble!"

Naruto harrumphed and fished out another picture. "Look at this! You're wearing that rainbow coloured shirt I got you…why do you look so sad teme?"

Sasuke's eyes suddenly darkened. He looked at the picture, but hoped that Naruto couldn't see the emotion wreaking havoc within. This was just before Naruto had proposed to Hinata. He remembered that feeling of helpless of knowing what was to come…the time he'd lost Naruto…

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke ignored the question and made to stand up. "I just remembered something that I have to do…"

Naruto just upped and tackled him then. "What's on your mind…?"

Sasuke felt the breath get knocked out of him as he collapsed face first onto the other side of the bed. "Nothing…if you don't let me go now, I'll hurt you Naruto…"

Naruto just rolled over so that Sasuke was above him and he'd gotten a good grip on the teme. "Sasuke…don't look like that…please…"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and attempted to answer, when Naruto leaned closer. Suddenly he was drowning in those blue eyes…all those messed up emotions came haring back…except now he was the one with someone else…

Sasuke's mind made a good conscious decision and his head dipped. Their lips met in a soft and passionate kiss…

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"What is your situation, Sai?"

"He hasn't called me in a week…since the time that boyfriend of Uchiha's disappeared…"

Orochimaru glared at him. "I don't believe you've been working hard enough…Naruto-kun was supposed to _like_ you…he was supposed to want you as his substitute to the Uchiha…"

Sai sighed. "I've tried…he can't…" Sai tried his fake smile. "He's in _love_ with the Uchiha…there's nothing more I can do…"

Orochimaru's face tightened. "Get out of my sight!" His voice sounded like the hiss of a snake, and his reptilian eyes flickered with hatred.

Sai gracefully stood. "As you wish. Danzou-sama will talk to you about my payment later…I did my job after all…"

Orochimaru watched the man leave and waited a while to get his feelings under control. His assistant Kabuto entered with a clipboard, methodically marking various things off it, absently biting the end of his pen when he paused to think about some of it.

"Something wrong, Orochimaru-sama…"

"Uchiha Sasuke…"

Kabuto smiled softly. "But you know we've all ready got someone on his case…the Uchiha will be disappearing very soon…"

Orochimaru nodded. "Yes…but I can still hate him."

Kabuto just nodded and retreated from the room. He didn't want to be near his boss when he was in this mood.

After his assistant was out of the room, Orochimaru crossed over to the left wall and picked up a picture frame from the shelf. "Well my love, the time has come to take back what was mine…"

His eyes, full of love and bitterness lingered on the frame. In the picture, a younger and actually handsome Orochimaru smiled up at the camera, his arms wrapped around his lover; laughing blue eyes and bright blond hair…a seventeen year old Arashi grinned back up at the camera leaning back into Orochimaru's hold.

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**A/N: how was that? At least I updated before six months passed and I'm proud… gosh I'm actually really sorry I hadn't updated before but I got this done today!! I'm trying to work on TBATB now and I don't know when I can get over the writer's block for that fic!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!**

**Ja na**

**Taka**

**Please review and keep my motivation going!! Let me know what you think of the chapter and all!!**


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